Fallen Angel
by Katninja69
Summary: After a horrific bus crash, Kenny McCormick is desperate to know who the new kid, Shay Frost, is. Could it be that, hopefully, the appearance of an angel promising his safety before his death is tied to the mysterious appearance of Shay? Or is he doomed to live his life in a never ending cycle of terrible deaths? Kenny/OC, a little Kyle/OC, and Candy (Cartman/Wendy)
1. Chapter 1: When Poor Meets Penniless

Kenny McCormick, although only at age 16, had experienced death many times. This we all know. Throughout the years he grew to accept that he may never really die and therefore never be able to pass on. True, there are some days where he is spared of his horrific fate, but others he isn't so lucky. Could there be a way to break this chain? _Impossible,_ he thought, _if there was I would have found it long ago_. He had lost all hope in ever finding a release for this curse and lived the live of an immortal fallen angel. The only thing that could save him was himself. Kenny rested his chin on his hand while he stared out of the bus window watching everything pass by. Having gotten little to no sleep due to his parent's reckless fighting, Kenny was dreadfully tired as he opened his mouth wide in a loud yawn struggling to keep awake. Casually, he reached over to his back pack and rummaged through seemingly useless items until he found his Playboy magazine. Leaning back in the seat he flipped through the pages looking for perfect eye candy to distract him. He jumped when Stan flopped over the seat and poked his shoulder.

"Dude, Kenny, Mr. Garrison is gonna be pissed if he finds that you got another one of those." He warned.

"So?" McCormick mumbled over his hood.

"So, I'd be careful where I put that. He could have you suspended for having that kind of stuff in the school."

He rolled his eyes and pretended not to hear him. Finally he found the perfect picture of a lady wearing almost nothing. Her body was of a goddess, superb curves, amazing rack, beautiful face. He softly licked his lips at the sight and smiled to himself. Stan simply shrugged and sat back down next to Kyle.

"I swear, that boy is getting on my nerves." He sighed.

"Don't be that way, I'm sure that he'll wake up eventually." Kyle nodded.

Five of Kenny's "books" have already been taken away by the teacher in the past week, but he always had a way of getting them back. Kenny yelped in protest when Cartman snatched it from his hands and smiled evily.

"What are you looking at this rubbish for?" He snickered.

"Give that back! I saved up all my money for that!" Kenny reached up to grab the magazine.

"Ah ah, first you gotta beg."

"No way! Just give it back!"

"Beg or else the little cover whore gets a little visit from Mr. Scissors!" Cartman held up a pair of sharp blades threatening to cut the front cover.

"No! Please, d-don't!" He felt his face grow red with fury. "If you do I won't ever forgive you!"

"You like this little cover whore, eh? Tell you what, I'll let her go if you give me ten dollars."

"Damnit Cartman you know I don't have that kind of money!"

"Such a shame." He said innocently and proceeded to fold the paper in half.

Kenny froze in torture and thrusted his hand in his pocket. He brought out the three dollars he had left over from his allowance after he bought the book and shakily handed it out to Eric.

"I'll give you the other seven when I get more money, I swear!" He said in a trembly voice.

"Hmm." He acted like he was busy thinking about it as he began to crease the paper.

"Please Cartman!" He brought his whimper to a wail.

"Alright, I better have the money by the end of this week." He smiled with a mischevious glint in his brown eyes.

Cartman threw back the book with slight folds and went back to his seat with the three dollars. Kenny eagerly grabbed it and unfolded the cover to make it as perfect as it was before. Carefully placing it back in his backpack he put his forehead on the back of the seat in front of him when a loud shout awoke him.

"Oh my God! We're going to crash!" Butters pointed.

Miss Crabtree was getting elderly and often fell asleep at the wheel, but her age didn't stop her from yelling at the children when they needed to be quiet. The bus went off the road and Butters's scream made her overcorrect. The wheels hit ice and all the teens were pushed up against the windows. Kenny braced himself for more students to be squished beside him when he was suddenly catapulted from the seat. The bus had had crashed into a huge tree and jolted everyone especially Kenny, who was then sent flying against the ceiling and through the windshield into the trunk of the tree. The glass had cut his face badly and he was bleeding heavily from his head. The sharp stings of the wounds were almost too much to bare until, as if on cue, the tree snapped from the impact of the vehicle and it came crashing down onto him. He flinched at the bark that scratched his face even more as it crushed his body. Slowly the feeling in his legs faded away, then in his upper and lower torso, then his arms, his mind about to shut down until he saw a small shape before him. The picture was fuzzy as he drifted in and out of conscienceness, but as the lights flickered he saw the shape getting closer and closer, until it was upon him kneeling and holding its hand out to him. He struggled to get his arms to work again and soon it shook violently in attempt to grab the angel's hand. It whispered something inaudible and when he tilted his head the angel said it again.

"I'm sorry for letting this happen. I promise you won't feel this pain again."

Kenny's hand finally grasped the angel and closed his fingers tightly. Tears bubbled up in his eyes not only from the extreme agony of both the sensation and numbness of his limbs being crushed, but from the terrible reality that this will always continue. Nothing, not even an angel from heaven, could stop it. And yet here it was, this mystical being saying that somehow, someway, it can protect him from these tragedies. A white light filled the surroundings and it abruptly cut into blackness with the last words heard from Stan and Kyle.

"Oh my God! They killed Kenny!"

"You bastards!"

The next thing he knew he awoke in his bed the very next day. He looked at his hands and moved his fingers, bent his knees, and patted his body down. Alive. Sighing he looked at the clock and raced out of bed at the sight of the time. Running out of his poverty stricken neighborhood, Kenny dashed to school. Mr. Garrison gave him an angry look as he burst through the classroom door.

"Mr. McCormick, can you tell me why you're late today? Or better yet, why you sluffed an entire school day yesterday?"

"I was killed by a fallen tree that the school bus hit into and was revived late." Kenny crossed his arms.

"Right, keep using those "I died and was brought back to life" excuses. Next time you're late I'll be informing the board. Now take your seat."

"Yes, sir." Kenny walked over to his seat to see a stranger in the desk next to him.

Confused he sat down and looked through his papers to find his book. While he looked at the scantily dress women the stranger tapped on his shoulder. Kenny quickly tried to hide the book, but knew inside it was too late.

"Can I borrow a pencil?" The stranger said, their voice muffled by the light blue scarf that covered their mouth.

"Uh, sure." He rumaged in his desk and handed the pencil to the new student.

"Thanks." Setting the pencil down the stranger turned back to him again. "My name's Shay Frost."

"Kenny McCormick."

"Are you late often?"

"Only when I die in the mornings."

"McCormick, is there a problem?" Mr. Garrison demanded..

"No, sir."

"Then be quiet and pay attention."

After a few minutes of mind numbing math problems, the bell for lunch sounded their freedom for an hour. The teens quickly put their things away and went out the door into the cold air outside. Kenny searched for his friends and ran to join Kyle, Stan, and Eric once he found them.

"Heh, good one, Kinneh." Cartman giggled.

"What?" Kenny questioned.

"Nothin, nothin."

"He's talking about your late excuse." Stan put his hands in his pockets.

"Oh, that."

"Yeah he's getting pretty sick of it."

Kenny sighed as he noticed that his friends were too. He had been telling the truth for many years now, but none will believe him. He's even tried killing himself in front of them all in vain. They would forget the next time he was brought back to earth. To change the subject, Kenny scanned the area for the new kid.

"Do you guys know who the person sitting next to me is?"

"Him? His name is Shay Frost." Kyle stepped in. "No one knows where he comes from, but I hear he's really really poor."

"Yeah, rumor is that he lives in your neighborhood, Kenny."

"Really?" Kenny was shocked. Why had he never seen him around before?

"Dude, everyone says he lives in that old playground. His parents abandoned him and he has no known relatives."

He had only visited that place once with his little sister, Karen, but she ran into his arms crying about the creepy ghost that scared her away. Since then he hasn't visited thinking that it was haunted. Never did he think that someone was actually living there.

"Yeah! Since you and that Tammy Warner chick aren't together I think this is the perfect chance to get a taste of the same gender!" Cartman smiled.

"You fat-ass that's gross!" Kyle disagreed.

"Come on, Kenny is Shay's mysterious knight in shining armor! The only difference is that he's too damn poor to afford a horse!"

"They don't belong together stop being such a racist."

"I'm just saying they would be soo cute." Eric put his hands together and looked up to the sky.

"That's not cool." Kenny shook his head.

After school Kenny decided to walk home so that there wasn't a chance of having another freak accident. Footsteps followed him and he listened as the snow crunched behind him. Stopping for a second he expected the stranger to as well, but instead the footsteps quickened into a run until a light blue blur hurried passed him. A cold chill crept up his spine as he watched Shay sprint right over an ice patch like it was just ground. He rubbed his eyes and shrugged, continuing on with his walk home. Maybe it was nothing. Maybe he was just tired. Death's face appeared in his mind and he didn't want to go to sleep anymore. He went straight to his room once he was inside the house and looked out the window at the playground in the distance. Shay was nowhere to be seen. Who was this person? He had yet to find out.

/\/\/\/\/\/\

Thanks for reading, more will come soon!


	2. Chapter 2: Slushy

Cartman stood in his four man group with a snowball behind his back, waiting silently for a victim to come crawling into his grasp. His eyes shined in the manner of a snake hunting for its prey. Kyle sensed the tension he released and crossed his arms.

"Dude, you aren't fooling anyone." He growled.

"And who's gonna care, Jew?" Cartman challenged.

"The person who gets hit with that snowball your carrying around."

"Oh please they'll never know what hit em." Locking his sights on Craig he brought his arm back and slung the snowy sphere from his hand. "Hey Tucker!"

Craig looked up in time to catch the snowball with his face. His gray eyes blazed angrily at Eric, the heat melting the snow off his face, marching away steaming. Stan faced Cartman and smiled.

"That's the tenth time you've pissed him off, dude. Next time you do it you'll really be in for it."

"Aw come on, that sissy can't do nothin."

Cartman bent over to scoop up more snow in his gloves and patted it down softly. Smiling devilishly he quickly looked away and coughed once, flicking the snowball towards Kyle's face.

"Bah!" Kyle cried out in surprise and furiously wiped the snow off his face. "Cartman!"

He was busy rolling on the ground laughing hysterically pointing at Kyle's wet face.

"Hahahaha! I got you good Kahl! Oh man you shoulda seen your face when that snow hit you!" He wheezed with giggles.

"Cartman it isn't that funny!" Kyle blushed.

"It's totally funny!" Eric hoisted himself up using Kenny's shoulder. "Right, Kinneh?"

"Yeah!" He agreed and started laughing.

"Kyle, you gotta have more humor." Stan looked to his best friend.

"I'm sorry." He apologized through his teeth.

"And Cartman, you gotta stop being such a bully."

"What?" Cartman came down from his laughing high and hit hard.

"I said you have to stop being a bully. You've just been out of control with it."

"I'm in total control! See!" He danced around the three boys.

"I don't mean that, I mean you just get out of hand with it. You could really hurt someone."

Again Cartman gathered snow up into a tight ball and tossed it without even looking at who he hit. A faraway cry echoed to his hears and he quickly looked over to see. Shay struggled to pick himself up, the back of his dark ice blue jacket powdered with the snow. To the other students he was weak, to Cartman he was easy prey. Like a bird swooping down on a worm, he attacked in a split second. Laughing in Shay's face he gently kicked his side (in his mind it was gentle). Shay felt blood drip from his mouth and still wiggled to get up off the ground. This made Eric smile in content as he harshly kicked slushy snow in his face calling him obscurities that made everyone look in their direction. Kyle raced toward Cartman and jumped onto his back using all his weight to bring him down onto the ground. Cartman simply brushed him off his shoulders and continued abusing the new student. About to kick the poor boy's teeth in, Kenny stepped between the two boys, his arms spread out to keep Cartman from seeing a way to get to Shay.

"Stop it!" He shouted.

Rage flared in Eric's dark brown eyes as he clenched his fists.

"Get out of the way Kinneh. Slushy's my prey, you have nothing to do with this." He hissed.

"Just look at yourself dude! This isn't like you! Stop while you still can!"

"I said get out of my way Kinneh!"

With that he punched Kenny's mouth hard with his fist. His bottom lip was cut against his teeth and blood trickled down his chin. Kenny didn't move an inch from Shay and stared defiantly back at Cartman with bold, blue eyes. The two boys had a stare down until Eric took Kenny by the shoulders and threw him down next to Shay, crawling onto him and ruthlessly punching his face. If it meant having to let him beat him to death in order to keep his mind off of the victim beside him, then he'll die of bravery. His nose cracked as it broke and even more blood spurted out leaving his face bruised and scarlet red. Kyle tried again and tackled his friend down and off of Kenny, holding him down so that he couldn't escape from his grasp.

"Keep it together, dude! Don't let it get to your head you've got to keep holding on!" He screamed. "Just look at what you're doing! This isn't right!"

Kenny coughed once and scuttled to see if Shay was alright. He was still breathing, but motionless and freezing. Swiftly he removed his jacket and wrapped Shay in it to help keep him warm. He was a small, lithe boy and so Kenny was able to carry him to the nurse's office in the building. Cartman felt like he was brought out of a trance as he looked into Kyle's scared green eyes. Looking passed him he saw his best friend walking away from him and disappear from his sight.

"Kahl? Where's Kinneh going?" He asked with all the innocence he had left.

Stan helped Kyle to his feet and allowed Cartman to get to his as they continued to lock eyes.

"Come on dude, we gotta go see if Shay's alright." Stan tried to guide Kyle on the other side of him.

Kyle stepped forward and put his finger in his face. His hand shook with fear and irritation and his eyes were clouded with sorrow. His voice quivered slightly not from the cold, but from the shock that his friend would actually do this to someone else.

"Listen fat boy, if you ever try that again with anyone I swear I will kick your fat, racist ass right where you stand." He rumbled.

Slowly, Cartman followed his two friends in silence back into the building. Stan looked back at him and didn't have anything to say, for he was speechless of what just happened. He felt feirce tension between Kyle and Cartman that he had never sensed before. It was the feeling of fear mixed with anger and sorrow and it made him sick to the stomach. They arrived at the nurse's office and sauntered through the door to see Shay on the examining table still and barely breathing. Kenny sat in a chair next to the table with his hands against his head lacing his fingers through his own dirty blond hair in angst. He didn't even look up when Nurse Gollum escorted his friends to where he sat nor when Stan put his hand on his shoulder in an effort to comfort him.

"Why?" He croaked out in a clear voice.

"What?" Cartman pretended not to hear.

"Why did you do this? Was it because you gain some sick pleasure off of someone else's suffering?"

"I don't know what your talking about."

Kenny abruptly pushed back his seat and stood before Cartman while Stan still kept his hand on him.

"You know damn well what I'm talking about you just don't want to fucking admit it!" He shouted then calmed down into a groggy tone. "You're such a sick fuck, Cartman, you really are. You could have killed him out there."

"I don't see the big deal I mean I didn't even hit him that hard."

"Shay's malnutritioned, meaning he doesn't get the nutrients he needs. That's why he couldn't stand up for himself and fight back." Kenny stared back up at Cartman and shoved him back, his voice raising back into a shriek. "And you just had to go and put his life in danger! How heartless can you get Eric? Death is a serious thing, you should never play games with it."

"Kenny, calm down." Stan reassured.

"Yeah stop trying to play God and act like you know what it's like to die!" Cartman battled back.

Kenny froze in shock and sat back down. He looked at the lifeless Shay and didn't say a word.

"You of all people should know that, Cartman." He whispered. "Get out."

"What?"

"Get out! I don't want to have anything to do with you anymore!" Kenny repeated loudly.

"Fine! If that's the way you want to be then screw you Kinneh, I'm goin home!" He retorted and stormed out of the office.

Kenny didn't even bother to watch him go out as he reached over and put a hand on Shay's face. It was very cold to the touch and he didn't seem to be warming up like he should. Worried he turned to find Nurse Gollum standing where Cartman once was with cheery, red cheeks and a kind glow in her eyes.

"Shay will be okay, Kenny, his body temperature is where it needs to be."

"Then why is he so cold?"

"The outside of his body will seem that way due to the fact that he's used to the fridged air. His skin has adapted and while he still retains his body heat on the inside I don't think that warmth can find it's way to the outside."

"So you're saying that he's basically an icy pop?" Stan asked.

"I guess you can put it that way. His kind is what we call a psychrophile."

"That isn't some kind of molester is it?"

"No, Stan." Nurse Gollum smiled.

"It's an extremophillic organism that can live in temperatures ranging from -15 degrees to 10 degrees Celsius. Usually things like that are only found as bacteria or archaea." Kyle explained.

"So, if that's the only way that a psychrophile is found then how can we be sure Shay is one?"

"I'm not 100% sure, but I can already see that he's lived a life where he's had to endure the cold for most of his life."

"That makes sense." Stan agreed.

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, rumor is that he lives in an old playground on Kenny's street."

"It isn't a rumor, it's true." Kenny spoke up.

"What?" Everyone turned to him.

"I saw him yesterday. He doesn't have a house or family like we do and so he lives alone in the cold."

"Oh dear, I don't think that's physically healthy for a child." Nurse Gollum ponderd. "Hypothermia could easily kill a child. I'm surprised he hasn't passed on yet."

"He's a strong soul, which is why I don't want anymore harm coming to him."

"But, Kenny you barely know him." Stan said.

"That shouldn't be used as an excuse for me not to try and protect him. He's just a lost soul who wants to be like everyone else, but can't. That doesn't stop him from living his life the best he can."

"You're a brave young man, Kenny. I'm sure Shay will appreciate your concern for him." Nurse Gollum nodded.

They all waited for Frost to recover in the warm office in silence with Kenny's little speech floating in their memories. In Cartman's house he sat at his window looking at the snow fall onto the ground and frost the glass slightly. Using his finger he wrote the words "Kenny+Eric+Kyle+Stan=Best friends 4ever". He gazed at the frost slowly covering their names until only his remained alone.

"_Eric, why are you so sad?_" A voice rang in his head.

"Who's there? Who are you?" He looked around his room to find nobody.

"_You didn't forget about us did you?_" The voice said again.

"C-Clyde Frog? Is that you?"

"_We miss you, Eric._" another chimed in.

"Polly Prissypants? Is everyone there with you?"

"_We're all here._"

"_Please, tell us why you are sad._"

Cartman thought about it for a while and then looked back out the window.

"Well...everyone's mad at me. I don't know why, but Kenny just doesn't want to be around me anymore."

"_What did you do to make him that way?_"

"I don't know I can't remember."

"_You're anger is becoming a threat to others around you, Eric._" Clyde said in a small voice.

"My anger?"

"_Yes, you feel vulnerable therefore you take it out on others._"

"No I don't."

"_Yes, you do._" Polly agreed.

"No..no I don't." Cartman felt a burning in his mind and stomach.

"_There you go again. Control it, Eric, and no harm will happen._"

Cartman pictured himself inside his mind with a butterfly net, trying to catch all of the butterflies that were making him mad. He put them in jars when a vision of Clyde Frog and his stuffed animals appeared.

"_Do not keep your anger bottled up. Destroy them._" Peter Panda said.

Dropping the glass jars he smashed the butterflies in the shards and smeared them all over the green grass of his imaginary place. A wave of serenity rushed into him and he felt at peace for the first time in years.

"Thanks you guys." He smiled.

"_We're always here for you, you just need to believe._" Rumpertumskin smiled.

"_Believe in us, Eric, believe in us._" They soon faded away with the wind.

Brought back to reality he got into his night clothes and got into bed, snuggling up against the covers as if he were a child again. He glanced to the corner where his stuffed animals used to sit watching over him as he slept and sighed. It had been six years since he had gotten rid of them, blaming their murders on Polly, and he had been so lost without them by his side. In his mind he knew it was the right thing, but in his heart he felt that he had betrayed them by growing up. Deep inside he wished he could never grow up so he could keep his stuffed animals without being called a rude, kidish name. He wished everything would return to normal, back to the way things were, when Kenny still liked to hang out with him, Clyde Frog, Polly, everyone was with him to give him advice, and school wasn't so boring.


	3. Chapter 3: Save Me

"You see Kenny, we would just like to see where you and Shay live." Principal Victoria said in a gentle voice.

"Why?" Kenny tilted his head.

"We just feel it's important to see what kind of environtment you two are involved in, m'kay?" Mr. Macky crossed his arms.

"Think of it as a little tour."

Kenny sat in silence and didn't know what to say. A "tour"? It wasn't that he was ashamed about where he lived, he jut felt that it would be a bit different for the well off people. Before he agreed he brought up a more personal problem he saw with it.

"What would happen to Shay?"

"Shay will remain here with Nurse Gollum, m'kay."

"Yes, she'll take care of Shay until we get back."

"Okay then." He hopped off of the chair and led them out of the office.

They left the school building far behind them as they followed the junior high school student out of town. The cool wind buffeted them until they came across the railroad track that separated the two neighborhoods. They crossed the rails and walked with care into the poorer town side, inspecting the conditions along the way. Trash littered the sidewalks and roads while stray animals wandered the streets and shouts could be heard within some of the houses. A large sillhouete loomed before them and even Kenny gasped when they arrived at the old playground. Since his last visit it had gotten much worse; the swing set was rusty and a few of the swings were missing, the slide had been taken off and put up against an opening on the bottom of the playground, the see-saw had both handles missing as paint that had been worn out and peeled off, garbage scattered throughout the area, and graffiti covered the walls. The opening where the slide lay had a dirty, patched up, lavender blanket put over a large hole to protect the inside from the chilly breeze.

The three of them approached the makeshift home and crawled through the opening, gently pushing the blanket aside as to not tear it down. A large dip was made on the inside and another small blanket (most likely the other half of the one that hung on the slide) lie undisturbed on the ground. Two frozen T.V dinners on top of a rag showed no sign of thawing anytime soon and casted a shadow on the interior walls caused by the dim, blinking flashlight. Other than that, it was pretty dark, too dark to get a good look at things. Kenny squated down and felt his foot step on something squishy. Lifting his heel he picked up a small, dark cream, stuffed rabbit, its ear torn, both eyes missing, stitches over its right arm, and many patches. Although it was blind the little bunny still smiled with joy, its tiny, pink, velvet nose twitching quietly. He sat down and felt something else under him. Taking the flashlight he pointed it where he last was and found a black, stuffed cat with a bandage on its tail, and a teddy bear with one of its ears gone.

"Principal Victoria, where will Shay go?" Kenny asked still staring at the stuffed animals.

"Oh I don't know dear. Shay will just have to go to an adoption center until we can find who the parents are."

"But...he doesn't have any parents."

Victoria and Mr. Macky looked at each other in wonder. Now the biggest challenge is what they will do with the child. They couldn't just leave Shay out here like this. That's when Kenny had an idea that might be crazy enough to work.

"I'll be willing to take Shay in." He said.

"But, your family is just bad off as Shay is. Your parents have three growing children in your house they couldn't afford caring for another, m'kay." Mr. Macky objected.

"I know, but it's better than having to leave him all alone out here. It's just the right thing to do."

"You seem determined to see Shay in a more proper home." Victoria smiled.

"I don't think that it's good for him to live this way."

"Very well, we'll make arrangements."

They exited the little home and Kenny brought out the three toys wrapped up in the blanket with him. _Shay would want these to be with him._ He kept them close to him as they walked back to school. In Nurse Gollum's office they gathered worridly around Shay to see how he was doing. Kenny put a hand on his shoulder and gently shook him to wake him up. Slowly, Shay's ice blue eyes blinked open and he looked straight up at Kenny.

"Shay, Kenny McCormick here is offering to house you in his home. Isn't that nice?" Nurse Gollum announced.

"Why?" Shay mumbled quietly.

"He wants to do the right thing for you. Do you accept?"

He didn't say anything more and stared up at the ceiling.

"I brought your little stuffed animals too." Kenny took out the cream bunny and handed it to him.

"Thank...you." Shay said in a weak voice.

"Would it be okay if you stay here with the nurse until Kenny gets off of school for the day?" Victoria asked.

"It's fine." Gradually his eyes closed once again with the bunny in his arms.

Kenny had to double look as he thought he saw a blue mist rise from Shay's mouth. In class Mr. Garrison was teaching English when Stan sighed and glanced over to Kyle.

"Dude, English is boring as fuck."

"Stan Marsh, what did you just say?" Mr. Garrison growled.

"I said "Dude, have you ever shot a duck.""

"Oh, okay then just try to pay attention."

Kyle grinned and nodded.

"Where do you think Kenny went?"

"I don't know, but he sure is taking a while."

"Guys, you are really polluting my learning environment." Cartman lectured.

"Oh shut up fat-ass since when have you ever cared about learning?" Kyle glared.

"Since I decided to care about learning, Jew!"

The door opened before Kyle could come up with a real crusher for Cartman and Kenny floated into the room. Mr. Garrison acted like he didn't notice and continued with the lesson while Cartman gave him a loud welcome.

"Hey Kinny were have you been?" He waved crazily.

When he didn't answer Cartman drummed his fingers on his desk and began to picture himself and the anger butterflies throwing the jars off a cliff. Kyle whispered to Stan, but kept his eyes on Eric.

"Hey, have you noticed anything weird about Cartman?"

"No, why?"

"He seems...different."

"I guess so." Stan shrugged.

Mr. Garrison turned to his students and went to get papers from his desk.

"Now students, I want you all to write a one page essay on poverty and how hard it was on the Americans during the Great Depression."

"Oh that'll be easy, right Kinny?" Cartman chuckled.

"Fuck you!" Kenny shouted.

"Language McCormick!" Mr. Garrison corrected.

The bell rang to go home and Kenny speed walked to the nurse's office only to be stopped by Cartman. He put his hands behind his back and rocked back and forth on his heels in attempt to appear guiltless.

"Hey, Kinny."

Rolling his eyes McCormick walked around him when Eric stepped in his way again.

"I just don't get it. Why are you so mad at me?"

"Just leave me alone." He said in a low voice and tried to pass him again.

"I understand that you don't want to see me, but I just wanna make things right between you and me. Is that too much to ask?"

"In your case, it's more than you think."

Cartman gritted his teeth, beads of sweat formed on his forehead, and his head began to grow foggy. Without thinking he grabbed Kenny's jacket collar and pulled him closer.

"Look, McCormick, I'm trying to be nice to you instead of ripping on your poorness. You owe me at least an explanation."

"I don't owe you anything, asshole. Now go away." He pushed away from Cartman and went in the opposite direction of where he came.

Nurse Gollum beamed happily at the sight of Kenny when he came through the door. She escorted him to where Shay was and he swung his backpack over his shoulder.

"How's he doing?" Kenny inquired.

"Shay's doing just fine, but isn't quite strong enough to walk."

"I wasn't planning on letting him walk."

"What do you mean?"

Kenny picked Shay up bridal style, shifted his weight for a moment, and nodded to the nurse.

"You've been of great help and I thank you." He said and left without another word.

Leaving the school building some of the students gazed curiously at Kenny as he carried the unconsious teen in his arms down the street. He paid no mind to their uneasy looks and went against the blowing wind as he strolled down the sidewalk. Again he softly shifted Shay in his arms and made sure that his face was not coming in contact with the biting gale. He breathed a sigh of relief as his house came into sight and the warm glow of the lights inside grew closer and closer with each step. Soon enough he was at the front porch as he twisted the door knob and stepped inside to see his parents staring at him like they had seen their son being killed right before their eyes.

"Kenny, who is that?" Stuart demanded.

"This is Shay Frost." Kenny closed the door.

"What did we tell you about bringing in strays?" Carol griped.

"He needs a place to stay and I'm willing to share my room with him."

"So this Shay's a...he?" His father was getting uncomfortable.

"Yes, and I plan on taking good care of him."

He wandered into his room and put Shay on his bed, tenderly wrapping his cold body up in blankets. Kenny sat down his bag on the floor by his bed and sat down at the edge. A few minutes later Shay awoke and found Kenny asleep at the foot of the bed. Startled he fought his way out of the covers and didn't move, but then crawled towards him and put the blankets over him instead. Kenny turned onto his right side and yawned gracefully, snuggling deeper into the covers. Shay looked around his surroundings and found, in the moonlight, his three stuffed animals in a small group at the corner all swathed in the half cut lavender blanket. Smiling to himself laid back down only to have Kenny turn back onto his left side and have his face only a few inches away. Freezing completely, Shay held his breath gradually he scooting back and then drifted off back to sleep. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all.


	4. Chapter 4: Confusion in the Mirror

The sun's bright rays peeked through Kenny's curtains and shined on his still sleeping face. Groaning he rubbed his head and opened his eyes only to meet a pair of glowing, light blue orbs gaping at him. Shay had woken up in the middle of the night and waited patiently for Kenny to finally rise from his slumber occasionally getting up to explore the house. When he sat up Shay jumped off the bed making the bells on the ends of his hat sing with excitment.

"Awake already?" He yawned and grinned. "You don't talk much, do you?"

A knock on the door echoed emptily in his room as his mother peered in. She had just woken up as well and stretched as she greeted her son.

"Kenny, you better get ready to go to school."

"I'll be ready, don't worry." Kenny walked to his closet and brought out his orange parka.

He slipped it on and pulled the hood over his head tightening the strings in one movement. Making sure he had everything in his bag he motioned to Shay to follow and led him out of his bedroom. He got a toasted poptart from the table and broke it in half giving one to his companion. Shay looked at it in Kenny's hand, but didn't take it right away.

"It's a strawberry poptart. We were lucky to get some while we could." Kenny place it in his hands.

The poptart cracked as ice formed over the icing and it steamed with coldness. Abruptly, Shay stuffed it in his mouth and ate it in one bite. Kenny was surprised and they walked outside to begin their journey to school. The sidewalk was especially slippery as it had rained that night and the low temperature had frozen the water. Snow covered the ice and therefore hidden it, making the walk dangerous. Slush caught McCormick off guard and his body went weightless in the air, plummeting to the ground in slow motion. Instead of feeling the hard concrete, Shay had slid under him and caught Kenny before he touched the ground.

"Are you okay?" He said in a calm voice.

"I'm..fine, thank you." Kenny was really amazed now.

Putting him back on his feet, Shay and dusted the snow from Kenny's back.

"It's the least I can do for a friend."

They arrived at school and went through the doors to find groups of students huddled together whispering to each other as they passed by. Ignoring the hushed voices he led Shay to his locker and slipped off his bag to put it inside. He held out his hands as a signal for his friend to give him the container that he had. Once Shay gave him it he put it in his locker and shut it.

"It'll be easier when school's over." He explained.

They trudged onward to class only to meet up with Eric again. His surprised look sold it for Kenny and he made sure that Shay was with him.

"So, you're hanging out with Slushy now? Do you really think that'll get me jealous?" He scoffed.

"I'm not doing this to make you feel anyway. I'm doing this because it's the right thing to do."

"Oh right, like I'll believe that."

"Just get out of our way, Eric. I don't want to cause anything. Come on, Shay." He delicately pulled Shay to him and they walked passed him.

In a way, Kenny felt like an older brother to Shay. He noticed that his sister had been getting along with Shay just fine and his family didn't treat him any different. The only thing was Mr. Macky was right, the financial problems were a tad higher, but that didn't dampen his determination in helping Shay as much as he could. Kyle was in the class reading a textbook to study for his paper when Kenny and Shay walked in. They quietly took their seats and waited silently for the bell to ring, which made Kyle a bit nervous. Never did he hear Kenny be so quiet. To make some noise he flipped the pages louder and cleared his throat a few times, rapping the end of his pencil on his desk and tapping his foot. After what seemed an eternity, the bell soon sounded and the students crowded through the door in order to get to class on time. Stan entered with Wendy at his side smiling and giggling happily. He sat down in his seat and stared dreamily at his girlfriend when Kyle reached over and tapped his shoulder.

"How many times are you going to keep forgiving that girl?" He queeried.

"It's not her fault that she keeps breaking up with me! I believe in second chances, you know."

"But you've given her more than second chances and, well..."

"What?"

"Nothing."

Stan turned to him with an edgy expression while Kyle tried to come up with the right words. They sat in an untrusting atmosphere and Stan persisted in staring him down.

"It's just that...well...she just doesn't seem right for you. You deserve better, Stan."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm not saying anything."

Stan bit his lower lip and glanced over at Wendy. She chatted quietly to Bebe and stopped to giggle a bit. Sighing Stan put his head down on the desk.

"You're right, but what can I do? She's everything to me."

"I just don't want to see you get your heart broken again and by the same person."

They stopped talking when the teacher came into the room and started writing on the board.

"Okay students, today we're going to learn about the Civil War." He turned to face the kids and saw Wendy raising her hand. "Yes, Wendy?"

"Didn't we learn this in like 4th grade?"

"Yes, but all of you scored so low on the test the school board is making me reteach it. It just goes to show that most of you really are dumb-asses. Now the Civil War took place 1861 and 1865 and was between the northern and southern states of the U.S, thus the name Civil War."

As Mr. Garrison explained the war to the class, Cartman bent forward to get to Kenny. He put his cupped his hand to his mouth and whispered in his ear to get his attention. Kenny refused to listen to him, but had a hard time concentrating on what the lesson was about when he at long last faced him.

"What the hell do you want?" He snapped.

"Kinny, meet me where we usually stand first thing lunch recess."

"No!"

"Come on please?"

"How many times do I have to tell you leave me alone."

"Pleeeease?"

"Fuck off."

"Now I assume that most of you aren't finished with your poverty papers, and so I'll be giving you one more day to wrap things up." The bell cut into his words and all was lost in the student's clamoring to get out of their seats.

Cartman waited for Kyle to come out the door and when he saw his chance he grabbed the boy away from the crowd.

"Kahl I need you to do something for me."

"Goddamn you scared me to death!" He put his hand to his chest and tried to keep from fainting.

"Kahl, I need you to talk to Kinny on my behalf."

"What why?"

"He won't talk to me or even listen to what I have to say. Please, he'll listen to you, right?"

"Dude, he doesn't even talk to either me or Stan nowadays. He's too busy trying to protect that Shay kid."

"Please!" Cartman clung onto his jacket. "You're my only hope! I hardly ever ask anything of you!"

"You never ask me for a favor actually."

"Kahl, we're friends right? And friends help other friends when they're in need."

"Geez, fine I'll talk to him."

Cartman embraced him and nearly picked him up off the floor.

"Thank you Kahl! Thank God for giving me you as a friend!" He called and ran away.

Kyle straightened his jacket and made his way outside to find Kenny and Shay. The many people didn't help make the job easier until he saw them making snow angels on the clean parts of the playground. Walking towards them he took a deep breath and arranged the right words in a way to make him listen.

"Kenny, can we talk?"

He acted like he didn't hear him and Kyle knelt down beside him.

"Kenny, I need to ask something of you."

He sat up.

"See, the thing is we're all confused about why you're so mad at Cartman."

"You don't mean to tell me you didn't feel the same thing I did when he brutally beat Shay." He said in a dark voice.

"He's very sorry for it, Kenny. Can't you forgive him?"

"No! He's passed the point of forgiveness!"

"Even he doesn't understand why you're so cold towards him."

"Well maybe he should look in the mirror for once and figure it out himself."

That's all Kyle needed to hear and he stood up, walking away from them like nothing happened. Cartman waited eagerly for his response and tittered to himself impatiently. Kyle approached him and looked up at him with blank eyes.

"He said for you to look in the mirror and figure it out yourself."

"What?" He balled up his fists and grinded his teeth. "What kind of answer is that?"

"That's all he'll say to me he wouldn't fully cooperate."

Again Cartman tried to imagine all of the anger butterflies bursting to flames, but something happened in his little happy sanctuary. A dark cloud loomed over head and started to rain acid, dissolving everything and melting the entire land. His aggressivness exploded and he tackled Kyle mercilessly strikeing his fists on his face. However, unlike Kenny or Shay, Kyle stood up for himself and fought back with all his strength. He pushed his face away and managed to kick him off for a moment. Kyle got to his knees and punched Cartman back with a quick swipe and was knocked back with a blow to the stomach. They got to their feet and went on fighting until Stan broke away from Wendy and stained to stop the battle.

"Hey, hey! Stop it! Kyle, Cartman stop!" He yelled.

"Stan get back here!" Wendy demanded.

"You two please stop!"

Cartman stood fearlessly and Kyle was ready for another blow when Stan pushed them away from each other. They breathed heavily and every kid had formed a circle around them to watch the fight.

"Guys calm down! There are young children here for Christ's sake! Set an example for them!"

Mr. Macky had gotten to them, but by then the circle had broken up and so had the fight. He joined Stan and scolded the two boys for what they had done.

"Now violence isn't always the answer, m'kay? You have to be able to settle things without trying to kill each other."

"Tell that to this fat-ass here!" Kyle hissed.

"Shut up you stupid Jew kike!" Cartman roared.

"Boys now don't start up again! You got to control it, m'kay."

"Mr. Macky, isn't there a way we could keep them from doing this again?" Stan questioned.

"Well, the school did set up an anger managment program for students such as this."

"Put them in it, please. I can't stand seeing this happen again."

"Very well, m'kay. We'll make arrangments for this afternoon, m'kay." Mr. Macky permissioned.


	5. Chapter 5: Never Forgive, Never Forget

Cartman glanced from under his bangs at Kyle, who sat across from him in the circle of empty chairs. Kyle had his arms folded, his right leg propped upon his left knee, and a pouty look on his face. He refused to return the acknowlegment and still didn't believe that his best friend would put him in the same room with the person who tried to strangle him. The controvercy he and Stan had the day of the agreement to be put into an anger managment organization flashed in his mind, his own voice shouting in his head.

"How could you do this to me, Stan? What makes you think that this'll work?" He yelled.

"Look, I just can't let you go on this way. I'm doing this because I care about you and your safety." Stan had a more subtle approach, but couldn't keep the distress from forming in his voice. "I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if you got seriously injured because of this."

"But locking me up with him? Are you insane?"

"You both need to learn how to control yourselves! If you haven't noticed, the town is having economical problems, that's why they couldn't put the high schoolers in a different building. And with you fighting like they aren't even there, you're teaching the little kids that it's okay to battle it out with each other when ever they're frustrated."

"Why can't you just put Cartman in it? He needs it more than I do."

"That isn't true. Yes, it's evident that Cartman has some emotional problems, but you..."

"What? What are you saying?"

Stan's eyes burned into Kyle's mind. The blue flame that had sparkled because of all the fun they've had together was now blazing forth a woeful flare.

"You have problems too, Kyle. You don't realize it because Cartman has grown into his more offensive mood, but you've always been short tempered. Now because his tornado is crashing head on into your volcano, you two are starting to create something even worse than what you were."

Kyle couldn't believe his ears. Did Stan just say what he thought he just said? His anger boiled in his stomach and steamed hot in his throat. Just like the volcano Stan used as a figure of speech, he blew up and spat venom coated words at his friend.

"Well forget you then! I don't need you to laugh behind my back as I go through this humiliation! You're the last person I want to be around! Go on! Leave me to suffer!"

Stan stood shocked and didn't say a thing. The venom had destroyed what was left of the rope that kept them together and he drifted away from Kyle, like a cloud from the sun.

"Stan, wait, I didn't mean that. Please, don't go man, I need you, I love you."

He turned to face Kyle for the last time and sighed.

"I wish I could believe that. How many times will you say you're sorry before you actually mean what you say?"

Kyle reached out for Stan, but he was too far away from his reach. That nerve racking moment made his brain snap and he fell from his chair onto his knees. Looking up he saw Cartman kneeling beside him speaking inaudible words to him and he felt that same rage simmer within him. Pushing upward with his legs he pounced on him and pinned him to the ground, clawing into Cartman's shoulders, and clenching his teeth to keep him from spewing anything worse than what he was going to say. Tears rolled down his cheeks and he blinked to be rid of them.

"Why?" He sobbed.

"What the hell are you doin Kahl?" Cartman was even more confused.

"Why did you do this? Why?!" His cries turned quickly into a scream.

"Kahl get offa meh!" He tried to push the ginger off.

"Kenny was right you do get a revolting delight from watching others pain."

"You're hurting mah arms!"

"Good, you deserve to feel the same anguish you've been pushing on everyone else!"

Cartman stared at Kyle and felt the warm drops fall onto his face. They tumbled down to his chin and for once he couldn't laugh at Kyle for crying in front of him. He couldn't even smile at how pathetic he looked. Kyle put his forehead onto Cartman's chest and continued weep.

"Because of you Stan doesn't want to be around me anymore and Kenny doesn't give a shit about us."

"Kahl I didn't mean-"

"I never want to see you again, Eric Cartman! You're nothing to me!" Kyle shouted and couldn't stop. "All you are is a spoiled, cowardly, agrrogant, greedy, stubborn, racist, son of a bitch! We were never friends and we never will be friends!"

He got off of Cartman and ran frantically out of the room. Alone Cartman sat up and pounded his fists into the ground. His stuffed animal's voices rang in his ears and he shook his head to be rid of them. They tried to help him, but it didn't work. What he didn't realize is that he needed to put full effort in order to heal himself. Kyle was gone and left him with his last words stinging in the cut he made, infecting his brain and causing his whole fabric of right and wrong to shut down. He roared and grabbed a chair, smashing it violently against the wall and flinging it to the side into the others. He punched the same spot and took out his anger on what ever was in the way, throwing a chair out of the window, putting a hole in the wall, and even kicking the door. This lasted for an hour before every ounce of his frenzy was spent. Mr. Macky came to find Cartman in a corner of the room and went up to him carefully.

"Eric, where's Kyle?"

"Kyle's gone."

"Do you know where he went?"

Cartman didn't want to answer and looked away, but the councellor understood.

"I think we better send you home for a while, m'kay. I don't want you hurting anyone in the school." He said as he observed the destruction of the room.

At that moment, Kyle was in his room looking through his possessions in his closet. He had calmed down during his race home and now sat quietly on the floor leaning against his bed side. He crawled deeper into the closet and drew out a green box with gold swirls he had recieved for his eleventh birthday. Kyle hid it from his friends thinking that they would see him as a wuss for having a music box. However, he was the only one to know that Stan, Kenny, and Cartman also got a music box for their eleventh birthdays, but he didn't know who they were from. He opened it and the melody drifted on the breeze that floated into his room from the window. It soothed his heart and set his mind back to his elementary days. Everything was so easy back then. He then spotted something strange at the bottom of the box. Reaching in, Kyle brought out a card. He was about to read it when the music box closed and a knock was heard out side his door.

"Kyle, you're mother said to call you down for dinner." His dad called from the other side.

"Tell her I'm not hungry."

"Son you know she gets upset when you act this way."

"I can't come down right now. It'll only be tonight, I promise."

"Very well."

Kyle waited until he was sure his father had left back downstairs and lifted the lid of the box again to listen to the music again. He picked up the card and opened it to recognize the old birthday letter Stan and the others had written him.

""

**_The person who only accepts friends without faults will never have any real friends_**_." That's why we're so happy that we got to know you and that we're friends with you. I love you, dude. From: Stan Marsh, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormick._"

He hadn't noticed the card when he first opened it at his birthday and remembered putting it on his drawer when he got home. Somehow it made its way into the box and sat in waiting there until he opened it again. A few houses down Stan also had the urge to take a peek into his blue and red music box that he kept it in his drawer away from his sister. He sat on his bed and opened it slightly only to find a picture of him and Kyle with their arms around each other smiling. On the back words were scribbled messily with black ink.

"**_Difference of opinion was never, with me, a motive of separation from a friend_**."

This made him look back on how close he was with Kyle and the other two boys. He fought so hard to keep him near and he almost forgot about the time when Kyle nearly died. He saw another picture with all four of them gathered around, Stan's arm around Kyle, Kyle's arm around Cartman, and Cartman's arm around Kenny. Again words were scribed behind the photo.

"**_One friend in a lifetime is much; two are many; three are hardly possible_**."

At the sight of those words he couldn't keep the lump down in his throat any longer and quietly began to cry. His friends had broken up and he felt powerless to do anything. In Cartman's house, Eric felt an unusual urge to look for something, but he didn't know what. Mindlessly he started sifting through his drawers and closet, and when all else failed he dashed downstairs to find his mother in the kitchen.

"Meem! Where's that music box I got for mah eleventh birthday?" He whined.

"Oh, I think it's up in the attic, dear."

He hurried up the ladder and looked through every box until he saw a red glimmer. Cartman shined his flashlight to see that music box not dulled by dust shining happily on the floor. He took it back down into his room and drew his fingers over the yellow markings before opening it. His heart was lifted at the soft melody and he held up a tattered Clyde Frog with a small paper attached to his stomach. He removed the pin and unfolded the paper to read it to himself.

"**_Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured._**"

His mind snapped back to when he first met Shay, or as he like to call him, Slushy, and when he attacked his two friends. He went into the bathroom and peered into the mirror. Gently he touched the reflection and ran his fingers down the glass in order to search for what Kenny and the rest saw in him. Right then he saw the frustration rise in his own eyes and was scared of what had become of him during the years. Was that all they found in him? That monster that came out of its cage? Cartman flew back into his room and slammed the door behind him in order to be rid of the sight, sliding his back against the wood and sinking to the ground.

Kenny, on the other hand, had nearly forgotten about his friends until Shay approached him while he was reading with a brown box. It's orange swirls winked at him and smiled as Frost held it up to him. He put his magazine down and took the box from his roommate and sat it on his lap. Kenny opened it a little and Shay sat on his knees on the bed like a dog. McCormick pulled out the shurikin he had accidentally thrown in Butters's eye while playing ninjas with his friends and found a green question mark with a note taped to it. The music box kept playing as Kenny read what the note said out loud.

"**_Death was afraid of him because he had the heart of a lion._**"

Shay crept up to him and turned the shurikin over to see another note on the back. He took it off and handed the paper to Kenny to read.

"**_God's angels often protect his servants from potential enemies._**"

With that Shay was asleep on the foot of the bed and Kenny was left awake to think of what the notes said. What did this all mean to him? Did they have any specific meaning at all? So many questions and hardly any answers. He stayed up wondering and ventured out of the house into the cold chill of the night. Kenny looked up a the moon and shivered lightly.

"What does this all mean? Is there a reason I was sent these?"

"There's a reason for everything."

He turned around and saw a mysterious figure sitting on his rooftop. The stranger had a dark blue, hooded cloak and a black mask over their face.

"Who are you?"

"Answers will come soon." Their voice was cold like ice, but smooth like silk. "You just need to find a way to forgive and forget. Nothing will be solved in this state."

The figure threw a smoke bomb and was gone once the air had cleared the shadow was gone. Kenny went back into the house to find Shay still sleeping and sat on the bed. Strange things were happening and only he could solve what was going on. That is what he gathered from the mystical visitor's words.


	6. Chapter 6: Missing Pieces in the Puzzle

Kyle slugglishly opened his eyes and rolled over to his phone. Not once did he hear it ring, but then he remembered that Stan wasn't his friend anymore. Every morning before everyone was awake they would call each other and talk about the dreams they had. This morning was different; Stan didn't call, Kyle couldn't bring himself to dial his number. Because his brain wouldn't let him go back to sleep he cracked his door open a bit and poked his head out. The halls were pitch dark and not a sound was made as he tip-toed out of his room with a towel under his arm, making his way to the bathroom. He closed the door before he turned on the lights so that no one was to be disturbed. Kyle sighed and looked at himself in the mirror, his curly, reddish hair sticking every which way, his emerald eyes dulled gray with exhaustion.

He placed the towel on the sink and undressed, tugging his sleep shirt off first and then he spotted something strange on his side. Kyle lept onto the sink to get a closer look at the mark on his left side and smiled weakly to himself, remembering the scar's importance. Cartman had been tricked into giving his kidney to Kyle a while back in order to save his life. Without it he would have died of his original kidney's failure. He and Eric were closer than they thought, both in their broken friendship and anotomy. Once in the shower Kyle let the water smooth his messy hair down before rubbing shampoo in it, but when he tried to examine the scar he found that it was gone. All that was left of it was a barely visible line on his milky skin. Before it was as if he had just gotten out of surgery. He shut off the water and climbed out of the shower, shaking the wetness out of his hair and wrapping the towel around his waist to amble back into his room to get ready for the day.

The first light of day peeped over the mountains and bathed the sky in beautiful reds, oranges, and dark purples. A start of a new day, and Kyle was determined to make the best of it. After jerking on his jacket he climbed down the stairs to make his toast for breakfast when he saw his mother sitting at the table in the dark. She had obviously been waiting for him as she didn't act surprised when he came into the kitchen.

"Kyle, your father and I have been worried about you lately." Sheila whispered.

"I'm fine, mom, I'll feel even better after I get some studying done." He adjusted the weight of his backpack on his shoulder.

"You aren't sick again, are you? You know it would break my heart if you were."

"I'm not sick I-"

"Then why are you not coming down for dinner when I send your father up to fetch you?" She rose her voice so that the whole house shook.

"Mom, please you'll wake Ike up."

"Ike wouldn't let his dear mother wait up all night so she could talk to him about something so insignificant."

The bread popped up in the toaster, but when Kyle made a move to go towards it Sheila stepped in front of him.

"I just don't want you to be such a disappointment to this family!"

"If this is about my school work I'm doing the best I can!" He battled back with a more forceful attitude.

"This is about how you've been acting these passed few days! When it comes to this it's like you don't even try to spend anytime with your family."

"Look, I don't have time for this. The school's going to open soon and if I don't get there I won't have time to study." He tried to slip by her, but she wouldn't let him go.

"Don't you talk to me that way, young man! You will tell me what's going on this instant!" she shreiked.

"Nothing is going on I just want to have some time alone."

"It's those foul mouthed friends of yours isn't it? They're always causing trouble for you and holding you back from succeeding!"

"No! They aren't my friends anymore!"

"Don't raise your voice when I'm talking to you Kyle!"

His anger rose sky high and finally burst to where he couldn't contain it anymore. In his loudest voice he spoke in a way he hasn't for many years since the New Jersey epidemic.

"Look if ya have a problem with me then just say it! I don't need you to keep hinting it and expect me to know directly what I did wrong!" Kyle pushed passed her and grabbed his toast.

Sheila silently watched her son go out the door and didn't move a muscle. Kyle took a bite of the toast while he marched angrily to school, thinking that there was bound to be quite a few people in the library due to his delay now. The frost of snow cascaded onto his face making his cheeks and nose pink with coldness. That's all it took for him to stop in his tracks and think back on what just happened. Stan was right, he did have an anger problem. What he was trying to do was help him rather than subject him to make up with his enemy and friend. He did not see this at first being blinded by his own fury, but by the time he did it was too late. Dropping the bread he rushed to the school and flew through the doors going straight to the library.

His pace had slowed by the time he got inside and he sat his bag down next to a table looking for Stan. Though he always saw studying boring, Stan had made it a habit of coming with Kyle to look for books to read for the upcoming exam. If he still went in that pattern then he was sure to be there. No matter where he looked he couldn't find the raven haired boy, causing Kyle to stand in disbelief. He walked half-heartedly to retrieve his backpack and walked out of the library to class. Once he was gone Stan peeked from behind a book case and didn't come out until the bell rang.

In the classroom the 4 boys didn't look at each other the entire time. The only one who dared to was Kyle, who hadn't completely lost touch with Kenny, but was close enough to the edge. At lunch, Kyle gathered up his courage to approach the two boys on the playground.

"Kenny? I need to talk to you." He didn't meet his gaze.

He hesitated for a moment, but approved when Shay nodded.

"What do you want?" he turned to face Broflovski.

"Well...I've notice how unwell you look and was just wondering why."

"It's none of your buisness." He coughed violently. "Now tell me why you're really here."

"I know, but...I have a proposition for you."

Kenny looked back at Shay and whispered something to him. Shay's eyes lit up and practically glowed as he dashed off.

"And what is this proposition?"

"For your health...I'm willing to take Frost off your hands for a while until you're better."

"Why? Is it because you think just because I'm poor I can't take care of Shay?" He defended.

"No it isn't that at all it's just...well..." Kyle put his hands in his pockets and hung his head, "I don't want our friendship to go to waste. Friends help each other in need, right? I just thought that I might be of assistance."

Kenny let out a loud sneeze and sniffled once. His head was foggy with a cold and he knew that Kyle was right. The last thing he wanted was for Shay to catch the sickness too.

"Just until I'm well again?"

"Yes."

With another sneeze Kenny agreed.

"Alright then, I'll tell him he'll be staying with you for a while."

"Great, meet me here after school."

"Fine."

Shay ran back with a small bag in his hands that read, "_Cough Drops_". Kenny shook one out and popped it into his mouth. Kyle nodded and walked away from them into the groups. Stan had been viewing their conversation from afar and grew jealous of the thin friendship they still held. Wendy saw this and dashed behind him, jumping onto his back, and giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"Stan, why are you so sad?" She asked.

"It's nothing...I just kinda miss Kyle I guess."

"Well, you know you can talk to me whenever you're down. Hey! Bebe and I are going to the mall after school today! Why don't you join us to get them off your mind?"

He put his hands on her arms to steady his balance and sighed.

"I don't know, I got a lot of homework to do."

She hopped off his back and made a face that signaled her climb to crying.

"But if it's with you then I'll gladly go!" He covered up.

Rapidly she switched gears and smiled.

"Great! We'll be waiting for you outside the class!" She gave him one last kiss and skipped away to join the other girls.

A few yards away Cartman was with Butters scheming. He had seen the way Stan had given in easily to Wendy's tricks and scoffed.

"Look at that sissy, letting a girl walk all over him." He shook his head disapprovingly.

"Wendy always knows how to get her way with him." Butters said and turned bewildered to Eric. "I thought you said you were over them?"

"I-I am! Shut up Butters or you'll make everything worse!" He hit him on the head.

"Ow! I'm sorry!" Butters shielded himself.

Although the boys were separated they still missed hanging out in their own group. Since then they had found others to hang around with, but it just wasn't the same. Back in the class room, Mr. Garrison had announced that they would be presenting their essay's and that he'd given them enough time to work on it.

"Alright, Wendy you go ahead." He nodded.

"Thank you." She went up and cleared her throat. "The Great Depression happened not only in the U.S, but in other countries world wide as well. It preceeded World War II and the horrors of the Nazi Holocaust-"

"_Seig Heil! Heil Cartman!_" Eric stood up and thrusted his arm up in a Nazi salute.

A few students, excluding Kyle, laughed quietly, but Wendy just gave him a look similar to that of an angry cat. He sat back down and giggled to himself.

"As I was saying, the Great Depression led to many people losing their jobs and becoming a poverty struck land in America."

"_Ooh Ich habe Angst_!" Cartman put his hands to his cheeks and pretended to faint.

"Mr. Garrison could you please tell Cartman to be quiet?"

"Eric, stop talking in whatever language and listen."

"_Es tut mir leid_." Cartman apologized.

"Thank you, now-"

"_Wir müssen die Juden ausrotten_!" Eric blurted out and covered his mouth.

"What did you say?!" Mr. Garrison demanded.

"Nothing." He said over his hand.

"That is it! Eric go to the counseling office!"

"But I didn't mean to say that!"

"Go!"

Cursing quietly to himself Cartman slipped out of his seat and trudged out of the room. Wendy let out a small "hmph" continued with her paper.

"Now, because jobs were unavailable people didn't have money to care for their families. And if they did their wages weren't enough. The economy went down fast and after World War II, the Great Depression came to an end. Some think that because the government spent so much on the war it ended, but others aren't too sure." She bowed and went back in her chair.

Several students applauded and Mr. Garrison stood in front of the class once more.

"Thank you Wendy, that was very informative. I'm afraid we won't be having another presentation due to Cartman's impulsive forgein language spurt."

The bell rang and Stan packed up his stuff as slowly as possible. He took what he needed and made his way out of the classroom only to find Wendy and Bebe waiting for him just like she said. Wendy squealed in delight as she grabbed Stan, who was trying to sneak away.

"Now we can get going!" She smiled.

At the mall Stan stood waiting for the girls as they zoomed around the store at all the nice clothes that were on sale. He looked at his watch and heard a familiar voice by the dressing room.

"Yes, so this is in a small, right?"

"Right, now if you'll follow me up front you can pay for it."

Stan peeked around the clothes and saw Butters paying for a light blue dress. The cashier smiled at Stotch as she ran the tag under the scanner.

"Is this for a special someone?" She asked.

"Well...sorta." Butters blushed and took the bag. "Thank you."

Butters happened to look in his direction and froze. Stan slowly came out of the clothes in which he had been hiding and waved.

"Hey, Butters."

"St-Stan! What are you doing here?" He stammered.

"Wendy and Bebe dragged me along with them to shop. So who's it for?"

"Who's what for?"

"The dress."

"Ah, n-no one."

"I see."

"I gotta go!" He ran out of the store and didn't look back.

Wendy finally waltzed out of the dressing room and tapped Stan's shoulder lightly.

"Oh Stany, how does this look?" She twirled in the lavender dress.

"It's okay." He shrugged.

She stopped and stared at him.

"It's okay? It isn't bad? It isn't good? It's just okay?"

"Yeah."

Bebe came behind Wendy as her face went red.

"Umm, I think I see a cute one over there!" She tried to pull her away to no avail.

"No! Stan, don't you think I look even a little nice in this?"

"I don't know! What do you need it for anyways?"

Both girls stood as still as statues with their jaws hanging wide.

"You don't mean you don't know?" They asked in unison.

"Know what?"

"The Snowflake Ball!" Bebe held out her hands.

"What?"

"A dance that's coming up soon!" Wendy hit the heel of her hand on his forehead.

"A dance? You mean to tell me you made me come here for a dance?" Stan pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes tightly.

"Well I gotta see which dress you like best." She paused and looked up at him with big eyes. "You are going to take me to the dance, right?"

That question caught him off guard and he rubbed the back of his neck.

"I don't know."

"What do you mean? Is there someone else you're thinking of taking?" Her voice was harsh.

"No, it's just that I don't know if I'll even go."

Frustration surged through Wendy's veins and she grabbed Stan's jacket collar, pulling him closer. Stan didn't say another word in fear of making her even more mad.

"You are going and you will take me. Is that clear?" She hissed.

"Okay, okay!" He gulped.

"Good! Now we must pick out some nice shoes to go with the dress." She skipped happily with Bebe out of the store.

At the playground in the school yard, Kyle waited quietly in the falling snow for Kenny to arrive when he saw a faint gray shadow in the fog. McCormick was followed by Shay as they met Kyle face to face in the chill.

"I've explained to Shay about...about...ah...ACHOO!" Kenny sneezed forcefully then continued, "about what'll happen."

"Good."

Kenny turned to Shay and smiled.

"It'll just be for a little while, remember?" He confirmed in a nasily tone.

Shay nodded and walked over to where Kyle was. He was sure to take a small boy under his arm and waved as Kenny walked away. disappearing into the mist. They walked back to his house and Kyle grinned as Shay looked around curiously at all the nice houses in the neighborhood. It was clean and quiet, nothing like the poor side of town. A friendly atmosphere floated in the air and greeted them both. Once inside the house, Kyle made sure that they got upstairs without anyone knowing and sighed the moment they were safe.

"So, Kenny went through all this to make sure you were well." Kyle chuckled. "This is going to be a long week."


	7. Chapter 7: What is Kept & Forever Young?

It has been at least four days since Shay moved in with Kyle and his parents haven't suspected a thing. He was careful with his new guest around and made sure that no one but him entered his room. This, however, made Sheila suspicious.

"I just want to see if your room needs to be repainted is all." She insisted that morning.

"N-no! I don't think it does." He nervously blocked the front of his door.

"But you don't know that. Please, just let me see."

"Mmm..." He side glanced into his room and sighed once he saw it was empty.

Finally he let her in and she looked all around, but not at the walls. As Kyle stood by wishing that his father or something would call her back down he saw a bright blue spark in his closet. Shay peered from the opening and his eyes glowed in the darkness. In a split second he was gone as Sheila ripped his closet open and thoroughly inspected it. When satisfied she shrugged like nothing happened.

"It seems your room doesn't need to be repainted after all." And she walked out as fast as she came in.

Having held his breath since she rushed in like that, Kyle fell to his knees as his chest heaved for oxygen. He crawled on his hands and knees to the closet and slid it open to find Shay curled up in front of him. He simply looked up innocently and smiled. Broflovski went over to his drawer and pulled out a clean, blue shirt and took off his night shirt, placing it neatly folded on the floor. Kyle was about to put his shirt on when he saw Shay staring intently, yet naively, at him. A sense of awkwardness slithered up his spine as his whole body went tense, ready to leap out of the way the moment Shay moved towards him. There was something strange about him, but he couldn't pinpoint what exactly it was. They kept an eye on each other until Shay whipped his head to the window and made Kyle jump. Quickly slipping his shirt on, Kyle went to his closet and reached for his orange jacket.

"Come on, we'll be late." He whispered as he fiddled with his ushanka.

Shay refused to move for a second and then jumped off of the bed, grabbing his light blue chullo onto his jet black hair and yanking the ends down to his chin causing the golden bells to sing loudly. What they hadn't noticed is that, down the street, Kenny had passed away. He was by his door when a cough came up and he put his hand to his mouth. It felt as if something was inside his throat and he did his best to hack it up, closing his eyes to the sight of blood spots on his glove. Still, he pressed on in attempting to cough up whatever was in his system, but alternatively, coughed up more and more blood. It soon grew so violent he died of blood loss.

In the playground, Shay waited by Kyle for Kenny to return. He looked eagerly up at him and expected an answer from his caretaker. Kyle rummaged through his brain to say something and only came out with this.

"I'm sure he's just resting right now. He'll be back."

Shay looked away and stared off into the distance, as if knowing something he didn't. Stan had been able to sneak away from Wendy and hid behind the school with a cigarette in his hand. Leaning against the wall he realized he had no way of lighting it until a monotonous voice resonated to his ear.

"What the hell are you doing here, jock?"

Stan quickly looked to his side and saw the Goth kids all glaring at him. The tall goth flicked his cigarette at the ground to Stan and puffed out the smoke he had in his mouth, still expecting an answer. Stan reached for the stick and used it to light his own, coughing somewhat as the smoke filled his lungs.

"I just need to get away is all."

"I thought you would be with that Barbie girl." The red haired goth growled.

"I am, she's just not what she used to be."

"All girls are the same," Henrietta sighed, "they lure you in with their sob stories and then go straight for the heart when you have nothing to offer."

"Yeah." The other three Goth boys agreed.

"Life is just pain and suffering. Love isn't the answer and it never will be." Red goth flicked his head to get the fringe out of his face.

"It isn't all that bad." Stan had gotten used to the smoke and no longer wheezed.

"Oh no? Just wait until she starts messing with your mind." Tall goth hissed. "Stupid conformists. I don't care how long it took them to get to the top, they can't get me into their petty way of thinking."

"Why are you really here?" Kindergoth challenged.

Stan knew that it wasn't just because he wanted to simply "get away from it all". He had no choice but to tell them. After all, what's the worst they could do? Other than give him another lecture about how conformists are stupid that is.

"She's just holding me back. I don't know what to do though. I can't just get rid of her because she's everything to me, you know?"

"No we don't." Red goth rolled his eyes.

"Get rid of the conformist. People like her need to just die like the rest of this cold, black, unforgiving world." Tall goth propped his elbow on his knee.

"I can't do that!" Stan dropped his cigarette in shock.

"Jock, stop being a pussy and drop that bitch." Henrietta shrugged.

"B-but..."

"It's the only way you'll be free from her remorceless claws of misery."

Stan crumbled to the ground and put his hands to his eyes to hide the fact that, once again, he was crying. All this week he's felt like a big cry baby, but he couldn't help it. His emotions have been playing tricks on his mind and made him confused to the point to where, no matter where he was, he would just break down and weep.

"He's crying." They observed.

"No shit, Sherlock." Stan wiped his cheeks.

"Look, we didn't mean to make you cry." Red goth sighed.

"It's not you guys, it's me. I've been this way a lot."

"What a wuss." Tall goth mocked.

"I'm not a wuss!"

"Whatever, go back to your conformist girlfriend, jock. You have no right to be in our presence."

Stan complied and left slowly. As he approached the groups of people Wendy ran up to him and grabbed his shoulders, shaking him while she scolded him.

"Where have you been? Why did you leave? Who were you with? Answer me!" She screamed.

"Stop it!" He whimpered.

She only stopped when she saw the tear streaks on his face.

"What happened?"

"Nothing, just leave me alone." He wrenched away from Wendy and took off inside the school.

As she watched him go in stunned silence, Cartman and Butters snaked to the loading docks to meet with the Goth kids. They hissed at the sight of him, but Eric had no problem in shutting their whining mouths tight with a venomous stare. They sat quiely waiting to listen to what he had to say. In one movement Cartman whipped out a picture of Frost and held it up for all of them to see.

"You know this kid?" He said in a gruff voice.

"Seen him around, don't know him exactly." Red goth flicked his head again.

"Is he a conformist like the rest of you?" Tall goth growled.

"No, he's just someone I need taken care of. And to do that I need all the information about him as I can gather."

"Do you Goth kids believe in angels?" Butters smiled.

"Angels are said to bring peace to the world, but if they're so real then where are they now?" Henrietta puffed smoke into the air.

"Angels are conformists, that's what they are." Red goth followed.

"They bring nothing but hatred and death. When they come unto earth they will watch as our blood runs from our pale bodies onto the harsh ground where we lay dying of the sadness in the world." Kindergoth flipped out his pocket knife.

"That is the best thing I've heard the little guy say all day." Tall goth congratulated.

"I know right." Red goth flicked the hair from his face.

"Instead of pouring your pathetic hearts out to me tell me everything you know about Shay Frost." Cartman threw the photo at them.

"Shay Frost? That's that kid's name?" Henrietta held it for her to see.

"Y-yeah! You know anything?" Butters jumped in.

"Even if I did I wouldn't tell you conformists." She looked away.

"Grrrr, you guys are no help at all!" Cartman roared and drug Butters away.

As the reappeared from the loading dock he met with Kyle and they stood in each others path for a moment. Neither tried to get out of the way until Butters pointed wildly at Shay.

"That's him! That's the angel I saw in my dreams!" He jumped around.

"Quiet Butters!" Cartman snapped and he obeyed.

"Come on, Shay." Kyle directed him in the opposite way.

"Kyle!" Cartman called after him. "I never thought you'd stoop so low as to take in the enemy."

He said nothing and continued walking with Shay at his side. Eric became enraged and readied a snow ball in his hand, but then stopped. He didn't know what happened when he felt someone behind him grab the snowball out of his hand.

"_Don't bother him._" A voice said in an icy tone.

Cartman couldn't turn around to see who it was, but he didn't need to. In the Broflovski's house after school, Kyle decided to let Shay take a shower; telling his parents that it was him (Kyle) who was in the bathroom. Again he didn't join for dinner that night as Shay wasn't out yet, so he stayed in his bedroom hoping that his family had enough pity to leave him some table scraps for him and Shay to share (for Shay quite enjoyed his mother's cooking for some reason). For a split second he had forgotten that Frost was in there in the first place, the door was left unlocked, and so he went in to use the restroom. When he entered it was foggy, not with heat, but with extremely cold mist. Confusion rushed through his head as fast as the chilly air hit his body when he saw a shadow in the haze that was being chased away by the warmth of his home. The supple frame of Shay was outlined perfectly by the frozen vapor, but it wasn't in the form of a young man. Not in Kyle's eyes. Feminine curves were in place of the sides and instead of the chest being flat, it stuck out. Pale white skin sparkled nearly blue with the small droplets rolling casually down and fell with a dull _plit plit_ onto the ground, where it cracked and whistled with coldness. Curiously he slowly walked towards the figure and was about to reach out for it when a small gasp escaped from the shadow and he slipped on ice on the floor. Ice on the floor? That didn't seem right, but there it was, the slickness of frozen water.

"Kyle?" Shay whispered.

"Sh-Shay, you're a-"

With a towel wrapped around her body, Shay dashed out of the bathroom and into Kyle's room where she quickly changed into her regular clothes and hid in his closet. The coldness mingled with the coziness of the hallway and melted all that was frozen leaving everything slick with water rather than ice. Kyle walked into his room and looked everywhere for Shay until he saw her blue eyes sparkle in the darkness. He slid open the door and knelt down beside her, calming her by putting a hand softly on her shoulder. She looked up at him with scared eyes, but eased up at the sight of his gentle expression.

"Does Kenny know?" He mumbled.

"No one knows." Her voice was muffled under the scarf.

Kyle smiled amiably and nodded.

"I won't tell anyone if that makes you feel any better."

Shay hesitated for a while and then leisurely nodded her head. Due to the unexpected revealance, Kyle was a bit more uneasy with the fact that he now shared his bed with a girl rather than with another guy even though she slept near his feet where she felt more comfortable, like a pet curling up beside her master. She looked so innocent and Kyle couldn't help but reach down and ruffle her messy hair like he would a kitten or puppy. While on the outside he couldn't wait for Kenny to take her back so he could get on with his own life, deep down inside he wished that he could possible share custody of Shay in caring for her. After all, he could get used to having another female in the house.


	8. Chapter 8: And is Quiet On the Tongue?

Kenny awoke in his bed once again and groaned with sleepiness as he sat up. It hadn't taken him as long to revive this time for it was only 7 at night. During his deaths he noticed a certain pattern that they all followed: when he dies naturally he reawakens in his bed the next day, but when he commits suicide he regenerates in a few minutes. He felt something was missing, but what was it? He was about to shake off the feeling when he saw frost forming on his window pane. Frost! That's what he was missing. Death allowed him to recover from his sickness, so now it was safe for him to take Shay back. He lept out of bed and got his shoes on, making sure he went quickly, but quietly, out the door and to Kyle's house. That same night, Kyle discovered something that he thought made him and Shay have more of a connection: he was actually a she. That little detail changed everything between them and only Kyle knew of this.

"Kenny will know soon." Shay nodded.

While Kyle wasn't so sure, Shay had other matters in mind and reassured him that things will go through with plans. Plans? He wasn't so sure what her "plans" were, but he played along. Only Kyle heard the soft knocks on his window as Kenny threw snow at the glass. He was about to get up when the Jew finally opened up his window and whispered loudly down to him.

"Kenny! Where have you been Shay's been worried!" He beamed.

"I'm sorry, I haven't forgotten about him." He lied. "That cold delayed me a bit. If it's okay with you I'd like to take him back."

"Who?"

"Shay!"

A lightbulb lit up in Kyle's brain and he nodded, disappearing back into his room to wake her up. As he put his hand on her shoulder he yelped as coldness rushed into his palm and coated his fingers with frost. It isn't normal for a human to do this upon contact. There is something else that she's hiding from him. First it was revealed that she was an extremophillic, then the bathroom turned into a freezer after she got out of the shower, they were somehow connected to each other. He couldn't put the pieces together correctly because she stirred a bit and blue orbs were glaring up at him.

"Kenny's here to take you back, Shay." He whispered weakly.

"Really?" She sat up and smiled.

"Yes, do you have everything?"

"I should."

"Good, now let's go see him."

He guided her down the stairs and shook lightly at the draft Shay left behind. Once at the front door, Kenny and Shay ran and embraced one another as if they had known each other for many years. Kyle smiled at the sight, but felt a paing of jealousy in his chest. He rubbed his arms and stopped his teeth from chattering to make himself appear normal. Kenny didn't seem to appear to feel the coldness he felt when he put his hand on her shoulder, and for that the jealousy grew.

"Kenny, I'm taking Ike sledding tomorrow, why don't you and Shay come along?" He planned a way to see Shay again.

"That's sounds nice, I'll see if we can go." Kenny agreed. "Let's go home, Shay."

"Okay, Kenny." She took his hand the way a small child takes the hand of her older brother and they faded away into the winter morning.

In the distance, Cartman and Butters were undercover, hiding in some nearby bushes with a pair of binoculars and a chocolate bar. He watched as Kyle stood still while Kenny and Shay walked back into the ghetto parts of town. He tried to silence Butters when he cried out as snow crashed into his face, but had no time to as it covered his eye glasses and face. Without knowing he stood up from the bushes and shook his fist at Kyle.

"Ey! What the hell Kahl?" He yelled.

"I didn't know you were gay with Butters, Cartman." Kyle remarked.

"N-neither did I." Butters blushed.

"I'm not gay with Butters!" He brushed the snow off his eyes and walked up to Kyle like nothing happened. "So I had to see it to believe it. You _were_ hiding the enemy!"

"Enemy?"

"That prick that wandered off with the poor kid!"

"Shay and Kenny?"

He rushed up to him and covered his mouth.

"Shhh! We don't say their name's out loud."

"It's a curse!" Butters agreed.

"Mhh! Stop it!" Kyle pushed him away. "They are not the enemies. I was just caring for he-him while Kenny was sick."

"Mm-hmm, and I see you planned the three of you on a sledding trip tomorrow?" Cartman wrote it in his small notebook. "I think I now know what's going on."

"Wh-what?"

"It's very clear that Kahl," He paused at the middle for a dramatic effect, "has feelings for Kinny's boyfriend."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Don't try to deny it! I know it may seem a bit...queer...in you perspective, but it's the whole truth." He giggled and danced around Broflovski chanting a sing-song. "Kahl, Kinny, and Slushy, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

"How is that even possible? It doesn't even make sense with three people!"

"Fine, Kahl and Slushy sitting-"

"Shut up and leave me alone!" Kyle shouted and slammed the door in Cartman's face.

"Very well, but let it be known that you will never get to live happily ever after, you stupid Jew! Believe me! I will do everything in my power to make you as miserable as possible! So miserable that it makes those Goth dicks look happy!" He yelled back and marched away.

Once home, Cartman was busy making his plans to ruin Kyle's life when the phone rang. He answered it and pretended to be someone else when an annoying voice came on.

"Cartman, is that you?" It was Wendy.

"W-Weendy! How are you this fine morning?" He made his voice go back to normal.

"Not so good, Stan is acting weird he doesn't want to go to the movies with me or go to Stark's Pond with me. He doesn't even want to be around me or talk with me anymore."

"So?"

"I was wondering if you would have some answers as to why he's acting this way."

"Nope nothing, good-bye." He was about to hang up when Wendy's voice stopped him.

"Wait! Don't hang up yet! I've got something to tell you."

Eric smirked and held the phone up to his ear.

"I'm glad you've come to your senses, Weendy."

"What?"

"I knew that sooner or later you would realize that I'm way kewler than that pussy Stan, but I'm afraid that I don't have time to cradle your precious emotions."

"What no! I've heard you need to get rid of that Shay kid and I think I know a way."

"Why do you want to help me?" He leaned back in his chair, his feet on his desk, while he twisted the phone wire with his finger.

"Because Bebe wants another chance with Kyle and she feels that Shay's getting in the way."

"What do you have?"

"Shay is a girl."

He was silent for a moment and then he chuckled cruelly.

"That's a good one, Weendy. You almost had me fooled there."

"No it's true!"

"Hahahaha, right. I'll pencil you down for a meeting with me at my house in exactly 8 hours."

"Why?"

"Just do it! If you're going to exterminate that prick then you'll need my help to do it."

"8 hours...that's at 3...I can't, Bebe's coming over to my place so we can plan out our appearance for the prom."

"But Weendyyyy I need you to be hya at that time!" He dragged out her name in an irritating whine.

"Cartmaaan," She copied his tone, "I'm not going to make it at that time!"

"No no no no, you're one of my henchmen now! You do what I say and get hya at 3 on the dime!"

"Since when did I agree to be apart of your goons?"

"Since you told me that little lie about Shay. Now get your ass down here at the set time!"

Wendy sighed angrily, "Fine, I'll be there."

"Good! We'll talk more when you arrive. _Seig Heil! Heil Cartman!_" He gave himself a salute over the phone. "Weendyy you gotta do it too!"

She growled and held up her arm in a Nazi salute.

"_Seig Heil. Heil Cartman._"

"_Nein_! More enthusiastic! Be proud you're serving me!" He commanded.

"_SEIG HEIL! HEIL CARTMAN!_" She shouted over the phone.

"Much better!" He cheered, but she had already hung up the phone.

Slowly Eric put the phone back on the reciever and he inclined forward, touching Wendy's picture with his finger tip.

"You will see soon, my dear. Stan will be no match to win your heart."

He sat at his window and watched the sun rise up, the sky dyed with beautiful purples, reds, and oranges. It drove away the darkness and soon transformed into a clear blue. Cartman had fallen asleep for a moment and was startled when knocking interrupted his dreams.

"Eric, honey, you're little friends are here to see you."

For a second he thought it might be Stan or even Kyle, but when he went to go see who it was Wendy and Butters sitting on the couch waiting for him.

"Would you two like something to snack on?" Liane offered.

"No thank you, Miss Cartman." Wendy rejected politely.

"Okay, if you kids need anything I'll be in the kitchen."

Cartman was by his mother and as she moved away he directed them to follow him up the stairs to his room. They trailed behind him and, not before looking up and down the halls, he closed the door and put his hands together in a buisness-like manner.

"Now, do you all know why you are here?" He questioned.

"Ah, to be honest, I-I kinda forgot why I was here." Butters admitted.

"We're here for one objection, and that is to take down Shay Frost." Wendy said in a strong tone.

"That's right, and now I'll be giving you your code names. Butters, you will be known as _Schwul_, and Weendy will be _Bonbon_. I will be _Führer_. Got that?"

"Yeah..." They agreed.

"_Nein_! You must all agree with _ja, mein Führer_!"

"_Ja, mein Führer_!" They cried out.

"Good! Now we must plan an attack."

"A-attack?" Butters whimpered.

"Yes, _Schwul_, an attack." He pulled out a map he made that morning of Stark's Pond.

"Oh geez, I'll get grounded for sure."

He dropped three small objects onto the paper, a paper clip, a piece of candy, and a silver statue. Arranging them into their places, Cartman put three more onto the field, a small replica of David's Star, and two quarters.

"Now, hya are the three culprits we will be observing today, the Jew, the Poor Kid, and the Prick. We will be hiding in separate places, shown mya." He put the paper clip, candy, and statue in different areas. "Our job is to gather as much information as we can in order to plan out a precise attack on the enemy. Once we capture our main prey we'll send him to a concentration camp where we'll never have to worry about him again."

"You mean she." Wendy said.

"What?"

"Our prey, it's a she."

Cartman stood before her and slammed his hand on the desk. He became intimidated when she didn't flinch even once.

"I planned this mission, so you'll follow my rules and do what I say! If I think the Prick is a he, then he's a he!" Finally he settled down and walked to the window with his hands behind his back. "We leave at 1600. I even got you some kewl uniforms."

"Really?" Butters eyes beamed.

"They're in the closet."

The two guests checked it and brought out a couple tan german World War 2 uniforms. They fit perfectly and Butters was real proud of getting his own.

"Gee, I haven't ever gotten one before. This is a real honor." He smiled.

"Cartman, where did you get these?" Wendy approached him from behind.

"I found them in the attic when I was looking for something. I thought they were appropriate for our operation." He turned to her and lifted the swastika marked cloth around the arms of the jacket with a finger. "My meem told me they were real, authentic ones from the war."

"Don't you think this is going a bit too far?"

Eric looked into her eyes and she noticed something different. Instead of having an intense rage he had a calm, soothing stare. He took the uniform and put it against her to check the size.

"It's perfect, like it was made for you. Please, won't you try it on?"

He gave it back to her and she walked out of the room into the restroom. Butters began to strip right there in the middle of the floor and Cartman roughly threw a pillow at him.

"God damnit, Butters! What the hell are you doing?" He shouted.

"Oww! I thought I might see if the size is right."

He pinched his nose brige and slowly shook his head, only looking up when Wendy reentered the room with the uniform on. Though it was a bit big on her, her body was nicely supported and she looked like a real Nazi soldier, just as he had hoped. She formally marched up to him and stopped three steps away, giving him a salute and loudly chanting, "_Seig Heil! Heil Cartman!" _to him. With an evil glint in her blue eyes, she smiled at Eric, who returned the gesture.

"You look wonderful." He praised.

"You don't look too bad yourself." She playfully pulled the rim of his hat down over his eyes.

"Hey! What about me?" Butters stepped in between them.

"Nice, now let's get going!" He turned on his heel and extended his arm out. "Everyone, forward, march!"

They filed out of the house and onward to Stark's Pond, where their prey would be waiting for them to be targeted and locked.


	9. Chapter 9: Operation: Observation

Cartman was on his stomach in the snow with a pair of binoculars and a walky-talky by his side, keeping a close eye on his prey. Kyle was with his little brother, Ike, as well as Kenny and Shay sledding down a nearby snowy hill. He pressed the button and spoke in a quiet tone into the devise.

"_Führer_ to _Bonbon_, come in."

Static came on as Wendy replied from her position.

"This is _Bonbon_, I have a good sight of the suspects."

"Perfect, _Schwul_, you there?"

"This is _Schwul_, I am out of sight and also have a good range on them."

"Excellent, if anything goes wrong you must report in immediately. _Führer_ out."

"_Ja, mein Führer_." And they were gone.

Kyle's heart was lifted as he listened to his little brother's squeals of joy as they slid down the hill on the sled. He walked up to Kenny and took out three dollars from his pocket, giving him a sneaky glance.

"I bet you three dollars we'll win in a race against you."

Shay clung onto Kenny's arm as he decided what was best. If he lost then he would have to find a way to pay up the three dollars. However, if he won then he would have seven dollars exactly, the amount he was supposed to have to pay back Eric. He nodded and shook Kyle's hand in agreement, setting his makeshift sled on the ground. While Kyle's was the traditional store boughten plastic disk, Kenny's was a wooden sled that he made out of a few planks he found and some strong, metal bars on the bottom. It wasn't much, but it was made for speed, or so he thought. Kyle put Ike in front and sat behind him so he doesn't fly backward, looking over at Kenny and Shay.

"Whenever you're ready, McCormick!" He called.

"You're on, Broflovski!" He challenged back.

Shay smiled happily as she took the front and was in it for the fun rather than the rewards. Cartman zoomed in and took some notes on her, grabbing his camera and taking some pictures of everyone on the hill. Shay screamed excitedly as they sped down the hill and had to hold onto her hat in order to keep it on her head. Ike waved his arms around in his brother's face and blocked his view for a moment. They swirved and almost lost control when a huge wave of snow washed over them as their sled came to a stop. Kenny's came in second and he mentally cursed himself for not having built it better. They stood up and dusted the snow off their jackets, Shay darted into Kenny's arms with delight. Kyle couldn't help but smile at him and he handed out the money to him.

"You won, Kyle. I have to pay you." Kenny protested.

"You need it more than I do." Kyle shrugged.

In a second Kyle was lifted off the ground by Kenny and he had the air squeezed out of him. Cartman heard a quiet crackling on his walky-talky and Butters came on the other side.

"This is _Schwul_."

"What is it?" He growled.

"I was just wondering...uh...when are we going to leave?"

"What are you saying?"

"Don't you think we gathered enough information? I mean, Shay is gay for Kenny. Isn't that good enough?"

"No, if you knew a thing or two, just one piece of evidence is not enough."

"Oh, right. I was just curious. _Schwul _out."

All was quiet until another call arrived.

"Yes?" He said in a stern voice.

"_Bonbon_, reporting. Cartman, do you think we could go? My stomach is so cold I think it's frozen.'

With an annoyed growl he responded to her question.

"Fine, if you guys wanna go now I guess we could. I knew I shouldn't have assigned rookies to do a veteran's job."

"What was that?" Wendy hissed.

"Nothing, I'll create a distraction and we run once their guard is down."

Snowball making, as you know by now, is one of Cartman's specialties. For any occasion, attention grabbing, attention distractor, anything, he could do it with one snowball. With one already in his hand, Eric threw it with ease and it hit a nearby tree, exploding at once and scattering against the ground. At once the four of them looked in the direction the snowball was thrown and the three Nazis snuck away as quickly as possible. They met up back at Cartman's house and discussed what they gathered in secrecy.

"I know you all are nearly freezy pops by now, but this is serious." Eric paced back and forth in front of Wendy and Butters. "I need you two to be in top condition! This is no time to be slacking off!"

"Cartman-"

"Ah! Adress me the way a soldier should, _Bonbon_."

Wendy huffed angrily and crossed her arms across her chest.

"_Führer_, we need some more time to prepare. You can't just drag us into the battle field and expect us to know what to do."

Eric chuckled and sauntered up to Wendy. He put a finger under her chin and forced her to face him.

"And that is where you are wrong. You see, it's my _job_ to expect you to follow orders. If you don't do as I say when I say it then that will send up a red flag, signaling my failure as a leader. If I fail at leading you both then you'll be no use to me. In other words, if things don't go as _I_ planned, then _you_ don't get the satisfaction you want: tearing the Prick away from the Jew's arms." His brown eyes glittering with a devilish snake-like glare. "Do I make myself clear?"

"_Ja_, _mein Führer_." For some odd reason she couldn't take herself away from Eric's cruel, yet mezmerizing, stare.

"Good." He let her go and smirked as she stood paralyzed.

From there he let them go for a break as he created another plan to ruin Kyle's life. Wendy hadn't noticed that she walked home with her uniform until she looked at herself in the long mirror that was hung up behind her door. She removed the hat and took out her long hair from the loose bun, shaking her head letting it fall to her back. She held it in her hands and rubbed the sleeve of the jacket on the golden eagle that dully winked at her. Wendy had barely dressed into her usual purple jacket and pants when her mom called her down.

"Wendy, Bebe is here to see you."

"Coming mom!" She took off downstairs to see the blond girl waiting at the door. "Hey, Bebe."

"Hi! Where were you I tried calling you God knows how many times! When you didn't answer I got worried and visited you earlier this morning, but your parents said that you were out."

"Oh, I had to take care of somethings. Come up to my room."

Back in her room, Bebe decided to pop the question as Wendy closed her door.

"So, did you talk to Cartman?"

"Yeah."

"What did he say?"

"He said...he said..."

"Come on tell me! Don't keep me wondering!" She jumped up and down.

"He said...he's working on it."

"Really? He's really going to help make Kyle mine?"

"Yeah...Bebe...why do you want Kyle so much?"

Bebe blushed and put her hands behind her back.

"I just think he's really cute, I mean have you seen him lately?"

"Stan doesn't hang out with him anymore, so no I don't."

"Well, anyways let's get going!"

Wendy was lost in thought and jumped at the sudden excitment in Bebe's voice.

"Go? Where?"

"Duhh! The mall! Remember, you were going to help you-know-who get a new make-over!"

"You want to get rid of her, but you'll still take her on a shopping spree?" Wendy gave her a knowing look.

"She doesn't like Kyle the way he likes her, she's more interested in McCormick. Besides, we aren't enemies and she's still new in town, so I want her to look nice when she comes to the Snowflake Ball."

"Well, she'll be at Kenny's you know. When you're ready we can go and pick her up."

"Right! Let's go!"

They rocketed down the steps and out the door straight to the ghetto side of the neighborhood. The two girls fixed themselves up once they arrived at the porch of the McCormicks and knocked on the door. Stuart answered and was surprised to see them smiling at him.

"Hello, Mr. McComrick, is Kenny home?"

"Ah, he just came back from sledding with his friends. Let me go get him." He turned away from them and shouted into the house. "Kenny, there are two girls here to see you."

"What?!" Kenny's unmuffled voice echoed from within and his loud footsteps shook the floors. He was, however, fairly disappointed when he saw Testaburger and Stuart at the door. "Oh...it's you."

"Kenny! Have some decency and at least put on a shirt!" Carol scolded.

"Calm down mom! My clothes are still wet!" He snapped.

Wendy and Bebe couldn't help but stare at the inattentive Kenny in admiration and embarrassment. His body was well sculpted for someone of his state of poverty, his dirty blond hair, while scruffy, was cute in a sense that only girls could understand. True, his parka, shirt, and even pants were soaked with snow and he had appeared with only a pair of light blue boxers, but his indecent exposure was no big deal to him. The two girls blushed, their faces getting red as they became hot and bothered. As if they were boring him, Kenny leaned against the doorway making his muscles more visible as he had stepped away from behind the door.

"Sooo..." His blue eyes blazed with sleepiness, but also a hint of disinterest.

"K-Kenny, is Shay here?" Wendy kicked herself for not getting her words out fluently.

A light blue shape peered at the back of Kenny and he moved slightly. Shay kept her eyes to the ground and Kenny stood up straight, taking her by the shoulders and moving her closer to him.

"What do you want with him?"

"We were wondering if we could take he-him to the mall with us."

"I don't know...it isn't always he goes with other people without me."

"We'll take care of him, we assure you." Wendy grinned.

Because Kenny was somewhat taller than Shay, he bent down a little and lifted her chin a little with his fingertips smiling warmly at her.

"Would you like to spend some time with them, Shay?"

Frost looked at the two girls for a moment and then back at Kenny. Quietly she nodded her head and Kenny sighed with concern.

"Promise me you'll be safe?"

In a childish voice she agreed.

"Promise!"

He pulled her in for a quick hug goodbye and she returned the gesture. Though it was cold out he didn't worry about the chill while the three girls walked out of sight to the mall.


	10. Chapter 10: Promise Me

Cartman was taking a little walk trying to get his thoughts together when Tweek Tweak ran up to him wildly waving his arms in the air. He was about to turn around when he felt the crazy boy crash right into him and knock him to the ground.

"Tweek! The hell dude?!" He shouted.

"S-sorry Cartman! I got s-some n-news from Craig!" His eyes twitched and he shook with anxiety.

"What does he want?"

"He says," he twitched, "he says," again he twitched, "h-he says,"

"Come out with it soldier!" Cartman grabbed his shirt and yanked him around. "What is it you need to say?"

"Auugh! So much pressure! I-I can't take it!" He ripped away from the harsh grasp of the dictator. "Craig wants you at the m-mall r-right away, it's urgent."

"Very well, tell your leader that I'll be there at 1631."

"R-right!" He scampered off.

At the time he said he would be there, Cartman stood waiting for Craig to arrive and looked at his watch. It was now passed 4:50 and he had been waiting there for at least 19 minutes or so. People looked nervously at the teenage boy dressed as a Nazi soldier and didn't dare pass by him, keeping as far as possible from him. Eric snapped his horse whip on a nearby bench and was about to kick over a nearby plant when he saw an odd sight. Wendy happened to walk by with Bebe and another person carrying multiple bags in their arms. They laughed and gossiped to each other when he found a familiar being among them. Shay Frost. Worse yet, one of his henchmen, Wendy, was with him. He rapidly did a drop roll to the plant and hid so he could watch for where they were going next. To his amazement they strolled into a fancy dress store giggling like girls do. He pulled out his binoculars and scoped inside the store to get a better view.

"This looks like a nice one!" Bebe took a dark blue strapless dress with frills on the bottom.

"That's so pretty!" Wendy took it from her friend and held it out to Shay. "Do you like this one?"

Shay nodded eagerly and Bebe came running back with some make-up.

"I found some matching stuff to go with it too!"

"Dressing room!"

They gently pushed Shay towards the dressing area and would come out every once in a while to get more things. Cartman shook his head and laughed to himself.

"Poor guy."

Everyone were now more freaked out by the Nazi boy spying on the girls. He had to double take when Shay came out with the outfit on. Her black hair was rather untidy and stuck out a bit, her pearly white skin standing out against the blue, and her icy eyes shining brightly in the light. The dress fitted her form perfectly and was long enough to touch the floor. The other two girls fawned with enchantment and wrapped their arms around her.

"This looks so nice!" Bebe squeaked.

"Very nice!" Wendy agreed.

"You think so?" Shay blushed slightly.

"You're totally ready for the Snowflake Ball!"

At once what color was on her face drained and she was noticably paler.

"You mean a dance?"

"Yeah! You're going with Kenny, right?"

"I...I don't know..."

"Come on, he likes you everyone can see that."

"But, there's a problem." She turned away.

"What is it?" Bebe put her hand on her shoulder.

"Kenny...doesn't know."

"Oh, I see."

"Well he'll be in for a big surprise won't he?" Wendy winked. "Surely he couldn't resist in a pretty girl like you."

"Really?"

"And how! Now, let's get these paid for and we'll take you back before it gets nightfall."

Cartman growled and threw his binoculars onto the ground, cracking the lenses, and kicked them to the side. Wendy had proven him wrong. He really was a she. Immediately he stormed out of the mall and went straight home before anyone spotted him eavesdropping on them (not that it mattered anyways, for most already saw him). At home he flew open the front door to be greeted by his mom with a plate of cookies in her hand.

"Hello my little plumpkin, how would you like some cookies? Fresh out of the oven."

"Are they chocolate chip?" He growled.

"Of course."

He took the entire plate and marched upstairs to his room. Once inside he sat on his bed and angrily ate the cookies. How could he have been so stupid? How couldn't he have seen it before? The girls knew more about new students than he did, why didn't he ask him about Shay when she first arrived? Because he was stubborn, was his conclusion. Pigheaded and proud. In a second he was on the floor trying to hack up a piece of chocolate chip that had become lodged in his throat. He gave himself the heimlich maneuver and after four tries it came out coated in saliva on his floor. Words echoed in his head when that exact thing happened a few years ago.

"_If you keep trying to eat while you're mad, you won't pay attention to what you're eating and end up choking, fat-ass_."

Eric searched his mind for who said that and when he found the name a black hole opened up in his stomach, making him feel empty inside even though he had already eaten half of the cookies. Kyle. He was the only one who would try to teach him something that could help better Cartman, but he has never listened until it happens twice. That's also what Kyle pointed out to him. He got to his feet and glanced at the rest of the cookies on his bed, having scattered due to his attempt to breathe again. Sighing, he unbuttoned his uniform and took off the hat, ruffling his brown hair so that it wasn't so smoothed down. He changed into his red jacket and pulled his blue hat on his head, gathering the cookies back on the plate, and walking back downstairs with the plate in his hands.

"Where are you going now, sweetie?"

"To a friend's house."

"Okay, well be sure to be back before dinner's ready."

"Yeah, mom."

Out in the cold he didn't feel the breeze and only noticed that it was really cold when frost began forming on the cookies. He breathed on them hoping to stop them from freezing over and resorted to stuffing them under his jacket. While it took only a few minutes to reach the Broflovski residence, it felt like an eternety to Cartman. He shook out the cookies from his coat onto the plate, arranging them so that they looked like his mother had done, and rang the door bell. Nobody answered. Again he rang the bell, but again no one came to answer. He banged on the door until he almost his Gerald in the face.

"Yes, Mr. Broflovski, is Kyle home?"

"You mean you haven't heard?" Sadness filled his voice.

"What?"

"Kyle went to see Stan Marsh in the hospital."

Cartman was silent.

"The doctors said that Stan had gotten sick, but they don't know what he's got. All they know is that it isn't the usual cold." Sheila nodded.

"Stan...in the hospital?" Cartman couldn't believe his ears. "Please, do you have a paper bag or Ziplock?"

"Of course, wait here and I'll get one for you." She went back into the house and returned with a plastic bag.

Cartman poured the cookies into the bag and sealed it tight. After thanking them he took off to the edge of town. Kenny had been waiting for Shay to get back home (his clothes had dried and he had his parka on as usual) when he saw Cartman in the distance. For some reason he knew that it was urgent if he were to visit at such a time.

"Kinny! Kinny! Is Shay home?" He weezed.

"No, why?"

"Kinny, it's Stan, he's in the hospital."

"Why?"

"I don't know, the doctors don't either, but we need to see how he's doing."

"I can't, not until Shay gets home safely."

"Wendy and Bebe will return her! Come on!"

"Her?" Kenny looked at Cartman like he had said he got pregnant.

"Him, right."

"Look, I won't be able to see Stan until he's home."

"Fine...I'll wait with you."

"What?"

Cartman didn't say another word. They waited for what seemed an hour before the girls were seen and the two boys ran up to them. Wendy had taken the bags to her house before they arrived and was startled when they rushed up to them.

"Thank you Wendy, but I need to take Shay from you."

"What why?"

"No reason, come on Shay."

Shay nodded and went eagerly to Kenny's side. Wendy crossed her arms and blocked their path.

"Wendy! Get out of our way!"

"Not until you tell us what the rush is for."

Cartman growled in frustration. "Stan is in the hospital for who knows what and we need to see him. Kyle is already there and I just feel that it would be appropriate for all his friends to be there for him."

"But you guys broke up." Bebe commented.

"Stan's in the hospital? Why?" Wendy covered her mouth in horror.

"We don't know that's why we're going there to find out! Now move!" Cartman pushed passed them.

"Wait! I'm going too!" Wendy stopped him with her hand on his shoulder.

"Grrr, fine just hurry up!"

"Bebe, you can go home if you want."

"No way, I'm going too!" She pouted.

"Hurry up no time for chit-chat!" Cartman shouted.

They all broke into a sprint and got to the Hell's Pass in no time at all. They didn't run out of air until they got through the entrance and held on to each other to catch their breath.

"Yes, may I help you?" The receptionist smiled.

"We...we need...we need the room number to Stan Marsh." Cartman shook his head to clear the dizziness.

"You must be the ones he's been expecting. Yes, he's right this way." She led them down the halls.

She stopped at a nearby door and knocked before entering.

"Mr. Marsh, there are some more people here to see you."

"Thank you." A feeble voice came from inside.

They flooded inside to see Stan hooked up on life support and Kyle with his head down on the bed. He lifed his face as their footsteps clicked on the floors. Cartman couldn't come up with a rude insult when he saw the Jew holding Stan's hand.

"Hey Stany." He tried to smile.

"Hi guys," Stan's cough shook his entire body, "I'm sorry you have to see me like this."

"Shhh, i-it isn't your fault." Kyle's own voice shook as well.

"He's right, Stan, it's our fault." Cartman came up and put an arm around Kyle. "We're the ones who put you in this state."

"That's right, you were just caught in the cross fire, and we're sorry."

"It's...it's alright."

"No, no it isn't. You know what, I learned something during these passed few days." Kyle held onto his hand tighter and stopped himself from crying. "I discovered the true extent of friendship. We all have our problems, but when you're with friends it makes a long trip short. When you have friends you learn to cope with each other and learn from each other's mistakes. I love you, Stan, and I don't want you to be taken from me. You're my best friend in the whole world."

"Yeah, look Stan, I even brought some cookies my mom made to share." Cartman held out the bag. "Sure, they may be a bit crumbly, but I had to get down here as quick as I could to get them to you before they went cold."

Shay hid her face in Kenny's jacket and he comforted her all he could.

"You have to stay strong, like you did when Kyle was in your place." Kenny spoke up.

"Stan, you can't leave us now." Wendy was the only one who was bawling.

Bebe stayed quiet. She couldn't think of anything to say. This was an intense moment and she felt like she might make things worse. After all, they knew Stan better than she did. Instead she tried to calm Wendy down and cried beside her.

"The dance...it's tonight isn't it?" Stan's voice was failing.

"Yes, it is." Wendy wiped the tears from her face.

Stan used all of his strength to face Kyle and Cartman. He squeezed Kyle's hand and it trembled with the force of his grip.

"Kyle, promise me that you'll save the last dance for me."

"I will, Stan, I will."

"And Cartman, say you'll make things better."

"I'll try."

"Don't try, Cartman, do."

"Children, Stan needs to sleep now." The nurse said.

"I'll set things right, Stan, you can count on me." Cartman vowed and they left.

As they began to leave Stan called out once more time.

"Shay." He coughed twice.

She made sure that everyone was out of the room before she approached Stan's bed. Kneeling down she put her hand on his shoulder.

"Shay, if I somehow don't make it, promise me you'll take care of Kyle."

"I will." She said in a calm, mature voice.

"Even if I do survive, I still want you to be there for him. It's you who we need right now. God's angels have been watching over us all this time, but we just didn't know there would really be one who would show themselves to us. All the while it was you who brought us together like this...and for that I thank you. If it wasn't for you they wouldn't have stopped with their fighting. Even though deep inside I admit that I feel like the scapegoat of this all, I now know why you chose me. I know." His eyes closed and before he fell asleep he whispered out his last words. "You fell to protect us as we fall to protect ourselves."

Shay made sure he was in a deep sleep before she left, taking one last look at Stan before leaving. In his time of urgency he saw through the veil at what she really was. His final sentence swirled around her as she recalled what he had said.

"_You fell to protect us as we fall to protect ourselves_."


	11. Chapter 11: Last Dance

"No, that goes here." Bebe looked at a piece of paper and arranged the blue flower.

"Wait! Let me fluff out the lacing on it first!" Wendy fretted and ran the white cloth threw her fingers.

"You know, Butters isn't too bad of an artist."

"I told you it was a good idea to letting him draw out how Shay's outfit will be put together."

She smoothed out the blue dress and created a rectangle with her fingers, imidating a camera sound. Bebe slicked a fly away strand of Frost's hair and smiled with content.

"Kenny is in for a surprise."

"You know it. Now it's time to make her up."

"Do we have time?"

"We always have time."

Bebe took out her bag of cosmetics and dumped the entire contents out onto the floor. Colors ranging from light pink to dark purple and everything in between were out in the open ready to be chosen and used. She took up bright red lip stick and twisted the bottom so it was longer.

"Put your lips out a little, Shay."

She did as she was told and Bebe made her pale lips turn red like a fresh apple.

"Now rub them together so I can see if I missed a spot."

Wendy took out a dark pink blush from its case and puffed some on her cheeks while Bebe worked on the mascara. She delicately rolled it onto her eye lashes and was in full concentration as they became fuller. As Bebe did that, Wendy stroked some light blue eyeshadow onto Shay's eyelids. They then went to her nails and painted them a beautiful ice blue blowing on them so that they would dry faster. After they were finished, they stood back to look over their master piece.

"She's perfect."

"We did a good job." Bebe put her hands on her hips.

"We sure did, remind me to thank Butters when we get there."

"You got it, so should we get going?"

"We should, now that we're all dressed up."

They waltzed out of the house and down the street to the school. Kenny waited at Kyle's house dressed in his suit and looked to Cartman, who was pulling at his tie uncomfortabley.

"How long is he going to take? I swear he's like a girl sometimes."

"He'll be out soon." Kenny put his hands behind his head.

"Speak of the devil." Cartman yawned.

Kyle finally rushed down the stairs with a dark brown suit and his ginger hair smoothed down so that it didn't puff out as much. The three boys rushed out the door and ran down the sidewalk hoping that they weren't too late.

"Hey! Slow down! I can't run that fast!" Cartman whined.

"Come on Cartman pick up the pace!" Kyle shouted.

He mustered all his energy and raced after his two friends, trying to keep his outfit together as he ran. They reached the entrance and bursted through the gym doors, blushing with extreme humiliation as everyone looked in their direction with shock. They walked in as calmly as they could and sat down at a nearby table.

"Thanks a lot, genious. You said we were late." Cartman hissed.

"I got the time wrong okay?" Kyle growled back.

"Guys, do you seen Shay anywhere?" Kenny drummed his fingers on the table.

"No, dude. He'll be here though, Wendy said that they might arrive at least a minute or two late because they would be busy getting him ready."

"Right."

"What are you so worried about? Don't you trust Wendy?" Cartman sighed.

"I do...it's just that I don't know if I should have left Shay alone."

"I'm telling you he'll be fine. Just enjoy yourself for a while and before you know it Shay will be by your side again."

"Yeah, chill out dude." Kyle assured him.

Again the doors blasted open and Kenny and the boys eagerly looked over only to see a recognizable boy with wavy black hair and a jet black tuxedo holding a rose in his hand. Everyone whispered amongst themselves as he approached the boys with an aware spark in his blood red eyes.

"What do you want, Damien?" Cartman commanded.

"I am here to witness the fallen angel of Heaven. Before us she gives life to unthinkable miracles and rises above all you mortals."

"Who are you talking about?"

"I am talking about the Maiden of Heavenly Ice."

"Dude, we don't know what you mean." Kyle put his head on his hand.

"As I suspected, she hasn't revealed her true form." Damien gave them an evil smile.

"Who hasn't?"

"You will see soon."

"Dude, why don't you go dance with some girls or something?"

"Yeah, go somewhere other than here." Kenny hadn't noticed the Son of the Evil One until he stood right in front of him.

"And you will be there to witness it, Immortal One. She will stand at your defense and recieve the blow of Death 'fore you wake."

"Enough riddles! Just go!" For some odd reason or another Kenny was becoming extremely uneasy.

"Very well." And with that he was gone into the crowds.

"I swear the more I see that guy the more I think he's a loon." Cartman scoffed.

"Well he is the son of Satan, it's natural for him to mysteriously appear with some weird "prophecy" from Hell." Kyle shrugged.

"I guess."

For a few more minutes they waited and watched a bunch of students come through the doors, but none were Wendy and her gang. Kenny was about to quit with the time lag and search for Shay himself when the final group appeared in the gym. Wendy was dressed up in a lavender dress with white gloves, her hair curled and pulled up, with a pearl necklace hanging around her neck. Bebe was in a red dress with black gloves and a silver necklace and a heart charm. The other person beside them he couldn't distinguish, but felt a rush of protective emotion stream into his body as Damien approached her, taking her hand and kissing it lightly.

"Welcome, my dear maiden." He whispered in a smooth voice.

"Kenny? Kenny what are you doing?" Kyle jumped up as he pushed back his chair and stomped up to the fallen angel.

Cartman followed Kyle unsure of what was going on. Kenny slid between the girl and Damien, his arms out shielding her from him.

"Don't you dare touch her again!" He yelled.

"Kenny, settle down!" Cartman tried to pull him away.

Two more unknown boys approached behind Damien and glared at them with fiery yellow eyes.

"Step away from her, Immortal One."

"I'm telling you for the last time, leave her alone."

"I don't want to ruin everyone's night. For everyone's sake, get out of the way."

"If you want to get to them you'll have to get through me." Kyle stood up beside Kenny.

"And me." Cartman joined them.

A circle formed around the six boys secretly wanting for a fight to give them something to talk about the next day. Wendy and Bebe watched appalled from the sidelines wishing for something to happen to distract them.

"What are you guys doing?" Kenny mumbled.

"When this is over we will tell you." Cartman replied.

"It seems she's befriended the Immortal One." One of Damien's servants observed.

"This is more complicated then I thought. I suppose we'll just let _him_ take care of the undying abomination. Once he's out of the way I'll dispose of the threat." Damien grumbled to the unknown shadows and returned his attention to the boys. "As you wish, but you do not know the great destruction the one you protect will bring."

The lights flickered off and once they were restored the three hellish boys were gone. Everyone was obviously freaked out, but they went back to chatting as normal, as if nothing out of the ordinary happened. Kenny escorted the girl to where they originally sat and Wendy and Bebe ran to the table as well.

"We were going to tell you, dude. It's just that we didn't know how." Kyle troubled.

"Kenny, please believe that we were as soon as we found out." The two girls approved.

Everyone looked at Eric, but he just rolled his eyes.

"Don't look at me, I just recently found out."

Kenn sat in silence and looked to Shay with a kind glint in his eyes.

"I knew there was something different about you, I just didn't think you'd turn out to be this."

She didn't say anything and before she could Wendy and Bebe pushed themselves in the middle of them.

"We were late on purpose because we wanted to make it a surprise." They giggled.

"I just wish that surprise was on a better time when I was home." Kenny chuckled.

"References, dude, you were clean until now." Kyle warned.

The music began playing and Cartman had snuck away without anyone noticing. Wendy was pulled aside from the group and hushed by his finger on her mouth.

"Cartman! What are you doing?" She whispered.

"Will you do the honor of having this first dance with me?"

"What?"

"_Willst du mit mir tanzen?_"

Wendy smiled and gently kissed his cheek.

"_Natürlich_."

Kenny nudged Kyle and they hollered enthusiastically at Cartman as he led Wendy through the groups of couples. Bebe tapped on Broflovski's shoulder and held out her hand to him.

"Will you dance with me?" She asked.

"I guess..." Kyle nervously took her hand and tried not to cry out as she nearly yanked it out of its socket.

"Kenny?" Shay kept her eyes down.

"It wouldn't be any fun just sitting here." He took her hand and they walked over to where everyone was.

For three dances the six of them were having the time of their lives dancing together. For the fourth Cartman approached Kyle and smiled at him.

"Oh no, no way." He rejected.

"I promised Stan I would set things straight between us. This'll be the only chance I have to say I'm sorry and truly mean it."

Kyle blushed furiously and stayed where he was. There was no way he'd accept Cartman's hand in a dance. On the other hand, it would be a chance to hear him say he's sorry. On the other hand, he didn't want to be accused of being gay. On the other hand, he was going to dance with Stan if he comes, but to him that was different.

"Kahl, please."

"Fine, just this once." Kyle took his hand and trudged out onto the dance floor.

He yelped as Eric put a hand on his waist and pulled him closer until their chests were touching. Kyle settled his left hand on Cartman's shoulder and pretended to not notice his fingers entwining with the other boy's in the other. They took one step and Cartman swore under his breath as Kyle's foot ungracefully stepped on his.

"Damn it Kahl, who the hell taught you to dance?" He growled.

"It's not my fault you stepped a second too early."

"I didn't you did a second too late."

"Stop it you're squishing me!"

"You're practically crushing my hand!"

"Slow down!"

"Speed up!"

"We're out of time with everyone!"

"No, their out of time with us!"

"Go with the beat!"

"Go with the rhythm!"

Though they thought they were doing everything wrong, from a distance they were just fine. They floated on the floor and waltzed with such a profession that it was hard to tell if they were dancing at all. During the middle of the song, they had eased up a lot and no longer felt as embarrased as they did before. The two boys looked deeply into each others eyes and didn't notice that their faces were a bit too close until a dancing couple accidentally bumped into them.

"Ah! We're sorry!" They appologized, but froze in place. In fact, everyone did.

"Cartman!" Wendy shouted and the four of them ran up to them.

Their lips had gotten locked together from the shove. The whole gym was dead as they finally broke and fell to the ground, fainted. Wendy and Kenny drug Cartman and Bebe and Shay got Kyle to the side. Everyone returned to dancing once they were out of the way as they tried to revive them. Shay put her hand on Kyle's cheek and the freezing shot shot through his body. He slowly opened his eyes and saw Shay looking closely at him.

"I must have died and went to heaven." He mumbled and he hugged Shay. "That was the most horrible thing I've even had done to me!"

Wendy was having troubles getting Cartman up until she managed to throw a glass of water on his face. He sputtered and spat out the water, breathing deeply.

"Oh mah God, I had the most terrible dream ever! I was dancing with Kyle when all of a sudden this douche hit into us and we ended up kissing!"

"Cartman, that wasn't a dream." Wendy gestured to Kyle.

When their eyes met they gave each other a disgusted look. The rest of the night they didn't talk with each other nor did they even sit next to each other.

"Kyle, look who's here." Shay said in a hushed voice.

He looked up and had to stop himself from tackling Stan as he hobbled out on one crutch.

"I always thought God hated me, that he was doing all these bad things to me because he hated me. Now I see that he's real, for this is a miracle."

"You promised him the last dance, right?" Wendy said.

"I did."

Stan finally made it to the table and sat down by Kyle, smiling with joy to see his friends.

"The doctors said it was okay for me to come here, but I gotta go back to the hospital after. They didn't understand how I managed to recover, but I just said it was the work of an angel."

Kyle felt tears roll down his eyes and he gently embraced his best friend.

"I was so worried about you! I thought you'd never make it!"

"I wouldn't miss this for the world, Kyle."

"Are you sure you'll be able to dance in your condition?"

"Don't worry, I will."

Wendy sat on Cartman's lap, Shay by Kenny, and Bebe by Cartman and Wendy as they watched the two friends dance the last dance. Kyle was sure to go slow enough so that Stan wasn't rushed too much, but Stan didn't want to be a burden to him. He put his crutch down and continued dancing with his best friend until everyone but his friends left.


	12. Chapter 12: Call of Mysterion

That morning was different unlike the rest of the mornings. The sun shined brighter, the birds were singing, the air was crisper, and the breeze was more soothing. The sky was lit up with happiness and harmony for once in the boys' lives. They began to rekindle their friendship and grew closer than they used to be. Before they knew it they were back at the bus stop together talking like in the old days.

"So, did you see that recap of that Terrance and Phillip episode yesterday?" Cartman grinned.

"Yeah, it was fucking sweet!" Stan agreed.

"I know right, I had almost forgotten how funny it was." Kyle looked to his friends.

"Heh, leave it to the Jew to forget things." Cartman sneered.

"Hey, shut up fat boy! I don't forget things!"

"Oh really? Did you remember to bring the science project?"

Kyle sifted through his bag to prove him wrong, when something horrible happened. He couldn't find it after all. His inside eye flashed back to his house and saw it sitting on his drawer.

"Damn..."

"I knew it! Jews are useless when it comes to memory!"

"I didn't forget! I just misplaced it!" Kyle tried to cover up his mistake.

"Right, keep telling yourself that." Cartman snickered and turned to Kenny. "What about you, Kinny? Did you see that episode last night?"

"Episode?" Kenny wasn't listening as well as he should.

"The Terrance and Phillip recap." Stan explained.

"Oh...right...yeah of course I did." He looked behind him and to his sides. "Do you guys feel like we're missing something?"

"You mean besides the project?"

"Yeah...there's something missing...but I don't know what it is."

Before any of them could answer the bus's engine shuttered as it drew near. The breaks screeched as it stopped in front of them and opened its doors to the boys. Something wasn't right. Kenny tried to put the pieces together, but for some reason they didn't fit.

"Guys, do you think it would be best if we walked?"

"Dude, it takes too long." Kyle looked back at Kenny.

"Yeah, stop being such a pussy and get on." Cartman demanded. "It's not like we'll get in a wreck or something."

Kenny took his word for it and climbed on board, taking his seat by the window. This had happened before, hadn't it? Instead of resting his chin on his hand, he looked around in confusion. He knew what would happen, he would get bored and take out his Playboy magazine. Stan would be over the seat trying to take him out of reading it. Cartman would come over and threaten to cut the cover, but offer to let it go for money. Once he took out his book and flipped through the pages, at that moment Stan was flopped over the seat.

"Dude, Kenny, Mr. Garrison is gonna be pissed if he finds that you got another one of those." He warned.

He had heard this conversation before, but before he could respond Stan was gone and replaced by Cartman. He took the book and began to fold the cover page.

"Alright, I better have the money by the end of this week."

He tossed the book back and Kenny shoved it back into his bag, threw it over his shoulder, and walked up to the driver's seat.

"Excuse me, can you stop the bus?"

"Sit down!" Miss Crabtree shouted.

"I know, but I need to get off of here now!"

"Why?"

"Look, this may sound crazy, but in a few seconds this bus is going to crash head-on into a tree. I'll end up going through the windshield and the tree will crush me, killing me. Please, you gotta stop before that happens."

"I said sit down!"

Suddenly the bus swirved and Butters scream rattled his brain.

"Oh my God! We're going to crash!"

Kenny tried to get into a seat to brace himself, but the bus had already hit into the tree and he was thrown out of the glass and into the tree. He cried out in pain as the tree collapsed onto his body and for once in his life he fought to get out of it. He fought to get out of dying, but couldn't drag his own self out from under the tree. His senses went on and off, until he saw the same vision he did that day this began. In the past all he could see was a bright blue light as it moved closer and it spoke to him in a voice he didn't know. This time, the light was clearer and formed a person. It walked towards him and knelt beside him, holding out its hand for him to grab onto. He did so and clasped the mysterious angel's hand tightly, afraid that if he let go he would die again. Its face was hard to make out, but his memory reeled through the events that took place after the disaster, but when he found a match it was too late. He blacked out and the only thing he had to verify his answer was the voice. It was beautiful and pure, like freshly fallen snow on a meadow.

"I'm sorry for letting this happen. I promise you won't feel this pain again."

Kenny felt a sharp shock in his chest, but his heart refused to beat again. Muffled voices swarmed around him and again the shock rushed through his chest. Still, his heart didn't want to come to life. Maybe this will be the end? Maybe the immortality he was granted is now being taken away from him. Maybe now he'll be able to peacefully die.

"Stand back everyone. Clear!"

For the third time the jolt didn't jump start his heart and he lay dead on the floor of the classroom. He had fallen asleep, but suddenly fell out of his chair unmoving and not breathing. Cartman pushed passed the doctors and took the defibrillator from the male nurse and rubbed the two flat sides together.

"Clear!" He place the sides on Kenny's chest, but he still didn't move. Getting frustrated he rubbed them again and again, continuing his attempt to revive him. "Come on God damnit! I'm not losing you!"

Shay was kept away from the inside of the circle by Kyle and Wendy, but she jerked her arms away and rushed to him kneeling beside Kenny's dead body. His soul had slipped away for a moment, he floated in blackness, in his mind hoping that he would really die this time, in his heart hoping that something would bring him back to life. Cartman kept trying, in vain, to revive his friend with tears in his eyes.

"There is no way I'm losing you! It isn't fair! Kyle gets his friend back, why can't I have mine?" He roared.

Kyle stepped beside him and Cartman went to him, crying into his shoulder. Shay put her hand on his cheek and Kenny sensed a below freezing sensation on his face. Bittersweet thorns of ice entered his soul, bitter because of the sadness he felt for leaving his friends, sweet because he now knew what it was like to actually die for even a few minutes without going straight to bed. The voice of the angel rang in his ears and he followed the song through the dark until he saw a light at the far end. Without thinking he ran to it and was brought back into the world. He rejoiced at the wonderful feeling of his heart beating once more as it thumped rapidly in his chest. Cartman gasped and hugged him tightly, driving the breath out of him.

"God has blessed me these few days!" He cried. "Don't you ever do that again!"

Kenny had the power only to return the gesture and puffed out for air once he let him go. Mr. Garrison sighed in relief and so did the other children.

"My goodness, I would have died myself if a student died in my class." He mumbled.

He looked around him and searched for Shay.

"Where did Shay go?"

"She took off once you began breathing again. I don't know where she went." Wendy informed.

The strength returned to him and he stood up, running out of the room and soon out of the school. He called out her name a few times, but recieved no answer. The others caught up to him, but he didn't acknowledge them.

"Kenny, she'll come back." Kyle assured him.

"Yeah, she's like a puppy. No matter how much you kick it around it'll always come back to you because it loves you."

"The only difference is that I would never do such a thing to her."

"Dude, calm down."

"How can I? She saved my life!" Kenny fell to his knees, holding his head with his hands as voices screamed inside. "Where is she?!"

"Come on, let's go visit Stan. She'll be home by the time we're finished." Kyle suggested.

Cartman helped him up and they went to the hospital to see Stan sitting in the waiting room. The crutch was gone and he was no longer pale and ill-looking, but young and healthy again.

"Hey! I thought you would never come to get me!" He ran over to them.

"I thought you're parents would have." Kyle put his hands in his pockets.

"Things have been complicated at home...that's why when they did offer to take me I didn't go. I wanted to go with you guys."

Kyle and Stan hugged while Cartman supported Kenny. Stan noticed that he was looking worried beyong repair and moved his blond hair out of his eyes.

"What's wrong?"

"Shay went missing after he almost died today in class. He's really upset about it."

At once Stan's cheerful expression changed into a morbid grimace.

"Where did she go?"

"We don't know, she just disappeared."

"I see, well I'm sure she'll come back." Stan looked up at his friends and smiled. "In the meantime, why don't we go see a movie?"

"Kick ass!" Cartman pumped his fist into the air.

They walked to the theaters and bought their tickets, taking their seats when Kenny began looking around. Kyle put his hand on his arm and gave him a tender look, settling him for a moment before the movie started. Everyone laughed except for Kenny as he was busy trying to ignore the strange whispers that were wrapping around him. No one but him seemed to be hearing them and they always said the same thing. "_Where are you? I can't see you_". Eric and Kyle argued about whos candy was whos, Stan chose for them, and everything was perfect. The voices became stronger and more scared, disturbing Kenny extremely causing him to run out of the theaters and call out to the sky.

"Why won't you leave me alone? What do you want from me?"

"Kenny? Are you okay?"

He whipped around rapidly, but only saw his friends standing at the entrance. They had noticed his behavior and were concerned about whether or not he really was as alright as he said he was.

"I'm fine. I think I'll head home a little early."

"Really? But the movie is almost over." Stan said sadly.

"I know, to be honest I haven't been feeling well since today's incident."

"Oh okay then, we'll see you in class tomorrow, Kenny."

"Bye Kenny."

"See you later, Kinny."

They didn't go back inside until he was gone into the mist. He didn't run until he knew he was out of their sight. He sprinted full speed home and knew that something was up, and it wasn't good. His parents were surprised to see him come into the house so quick and expressed their astonishment.

"Hey Kenny, you sure are home early." Stuart said.

"Sorry, I can't talk right now." He said quickly and went straight to his room, slamming the door once he was inside.

"Mom, what's wrong with Kenny?" Karen asked.

"I don't know, but it must be something urgent." Carol responded.

Kenny threw open his closet doors and ripped his top drawer out, putting it on his bed and taking out the clothes that were within it. During the years he had grown out of his original costume and had to go in search for more fitting suits. He pulled the purple cowl over his head and the black mask down his face, becoming the iconic Mysterion that the town knew so well. He opened the window and crawled through it, landing on his feet and taking off into the gloom. Mysterion (as we will call Kenny for the time being) didn't know where he was going, but knew he had to follow the voices he hears in his head. The grew louder when he was getting closer, but also quieter when he drew away. This made the job more difficult as he had to search all over town to find where they were coming from until they led him to an abandoned junk yard. Mysterion climbed onto some old cars and flew acrossed the night sky to search for what was going on until he found a fire in the middle of a circle of junk with five shadows around it. He crouched against a car to listen in on the conversation they were having and couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"That devil kid better give us extra for getting rid of the little shit." One growled aggressively.

"That is if he doesn't have our heads for it first." Another hissed.

"Cool it, even if he doesn't kill us there is a little to no chance we'll get praise for it." Another sighed.

"The only reason we did this was for the money anyways." The fourth shrugged.

The first shade walked over to a smaller shape and lifted its head up.

"You seem to be worth something important to that spoiled brat. Personally, if it were up to me, you wouldn't be alive right now."

"How do you know our target will come to her rescue right away?" The third questioned.

"It's easy, he said that they have a "special connection" with each other." The fourth answered.

"Isn't that sweet, an immortal phoenix and an angelic maiden. What could possibly be better?"

"Shh, you hear that? Someone's here." The second one snapped.

Mysterion lept from his hiding place and looked up at the four kidnappers with harsh blue eyes.

"And what exactly are you doing with her?" He demanded in a gruff voice.

"Oh shit! It's Mysterion!" They whispered.

The leader smirked at him.

"We were just waiting for the Son of Satan to get here to deal with this little prize." He grabbed Shay's hair and forced her head up to face Mysterion. "Look, someone's here to save you."

For a little while she was confused at who it was, but recognized the glimmer of protectivness in his eyes. He stood up and balled up his fists, ready for a fight if needed. Three of the kidnappers laughed at him and took out switchblades from their pockets.

"But I guess we'll have to take care of you first." They crept forward to him, the knives winking harshly in the fire light.

"Wait, I think I know how to handle this." The leader let Shay's hair go and kicked her to the ground. "If you surrender to us, we'll give you the girl."

Mysterion stood his ground and stared defiantly at the leader.

"Or what?"

"Or I'll slit her pretty little throat and kill you as you watch her bleed out on the ground." He held his own blade to her neck.

He was pinned between a rock and a hard place, no way he could get out of this and keep her alive. There was only one choice he could make.

"If that's the way it has to go, then I accept."

"Good," He picked Shay up and pushed her, "get on now, go!"

She looked to Mysterion and took small steps when she saw a black shadown looming behind him.

"Behind you!"

Mysterion dodged the blade that was aimed for his ribs and took the attacker by surprise, flipping him over his back and knocking the wind out of him as he hit the ground. He lunged at the next and punched his face several times. The enemy tried to fight back, but Mysterion gave him a hard kick to the crotch and elbowed the back of his head. The last one nicked him once on the arm and he gave him a tornado kick to the face to finish him off. The leader panicked for a short moment and stuck his knife into Shay's side, drawing it out and allowing the blood to run freely from the wound.

"Shay!" He shouted and ran to her side.

"So you are the undying boy he spoke about." The leader panted.

"You bastard." Mysterion didn't look up at him.

"What are you going to do about it?"

Mysterion threw a firework from his belt and picked up Shay in his arms, vanishing into the night. He was careful when they reached his home and put lept through the window, laying her down on the bed after recovering and putting his hand on her cheek.

"You are safe now, Shay. Nobody will ever hurt you again, I promise." He whispered.

"You're the guardian angel Karen speaks about so much, right?" She spoke in a grave tone.

"I am, but that doesn't mean an angel cannot watch over another. She looks up to you as much as she does me."

"I don't mean to be a burden."

He took her hand in his and held it firmly. "You have to stay strong. For Karen, for Kenny."

Shay took her free hand and gently lifted the mask, revealing Kenny's relaxed face. He bent over to her touch and she lightly kissed his cheek. With that her head rested on the pillow and she was asleep, like a candle whose flame had been blown out. Kenny changed back into his orange parka, but before he too fell prey to slumber he noticed something odd. The wound on her side popped and steamed slightly with blue fog. He cautiously looked under her jacket at the injury to see frost and ice snapping with coldness, seeping into the puncture gash and sealing it so that it no longer bled. It matched the color of her skin and sizzled no more once complete. He recalled one of the kidnappers words that was said. They had a connection. That is why only he could hear Shay's cries for help. That is why only he could help her and why only she can save him from what was going to happen.


	13. Chapter 13: The Angel Who Saved Another

Butters held the picture in his hands and tried to stop his hands from trembling with fear. Mr. Garrison had his back turned and now was the right time, he tapped Bebe's shoulder and handed her the folded paper.

"To Shay."

Bebe nodded and threw it onto Craig's desk.

"To Shay." She whispered.

As a sign he heard he flipped her off and threw it across to where Kenny was. Craig pointed to Shay and Kenny understood, handing it to her gently. Craig rolled his eyes and scoffed. Shay unfolded it in her desk and found a picture of an angel wearing a long, flowing bluish dress. She looked over to Butters and he waved at her.

"Now I want you all to solve these before recess. If you don't then I'll hold you back while everyone else goes outside."

No one wanted to do that, so they got to work on the problems as fast as they could. Cartman looked around to see if anyone was watching, then leaned forward at Shay's paper, copying her answers as she was already halfway finished. Kyle saw this and threw a wadded paper ball at his head.

"Ey!" He loudly whispered.

"Do your own work!" Kyle scolded.

"Do your own work, Cartman." He mimicked in a high voice and sat back down. "And while you're at it why don't you go do my work too."

"Eric is there a problem?" Mr. Garrison asked.

"No, I was just facinated at how unexplainably easy these are." He said sarcastically.

"Ha ha very funny. One more remark like that and you'll be sent to the counseling office."

"It's always the counseling office." He mumbled.

"What was that?"

"Nothing!"

He wrote a few things down and finished off with staring at the clock trying to make it go faster. Three minutes. Two minutes. One minute. Then it stopped. The second hand paused and so did everything in the room. The only thing that moved was Cartman, as he still tried to make time go by quicker. Finally it clicked and the bell rang.

"Put your papers up on my desk and get your asses out of here."

They cheered and stormed up to the table, placing their assignments wildly, and taking off outside. Butters waded through the crowds and finally found Shay hanging out with the boys like old times. He approached her and took a while to think of what to say when Stan gestured to him behind her. She turned to face him, but when he opened his mouth nothing came out.

"What is it Butters?" She tilted her head.

He tried to get the words out, but instead of quietly asking he blurted it out.

"Is it true you're an angel?"

Stan and Kenny looked at each other while Kyle stared at him with confusion and Cartman laughed unkindly.

"Do you really think she'll ask a dumb question like that? You must be out of your mind." He came up and put his arms around her shoulders. "My friend Shay has done nothing that proved she is an angel. If she did I would be the first to know."

"Shut your fucking mouth Cartman you wouldn't know hell from the darkness of your room."

"Ey! Why don't you just shut up you stupid Jew!"

"But is it true? Are you?" He lowered his voice a bit to a sheepish whine.

"Look, Butters, angels have wings. Does it look like Shay has wings?"

"But my mom says that angels could come in many different forms."

"Well you're mom is so ugly that she can't even sell herself for over a penny if she were a whore."

"Not cool dude." Stan hit his arm and stepped forward. "She's right, but it's really hard to tell an angel from a real person."

"Yeah, you're right. I better get going." He dashed the other direction.

Cartman folded his arms and looked at Stan.

"Sure, you can tell him that garbage, but you won't even let me rip on him?"

"It's true though."

"He's right, but we don't know for sure who is really an angel." Kyle shrugged.

Kenny made sure Shay was close by before he said anything.

"But you do believe in them, don't you?" He scanned over his friends.

"Sure, dude, of course I do." Stan nodded.

"Except for Kyle because he's a dirty Jew." Cartman snickered.

"But even Jews believe in angels." Kyle glared at him.

The bell rang and they noticed that time really had passed by fast. Kenny had that feeling again that something didn't seem right, but he couldn't figure it out. Shay was acting strangely afraid and he didn't know what was wrong. All he knew is that they both felt it and it wasn't good. Something was coming. At lunch she refused to eat even when Kenny tried to bribe her with his poptart. They were her favorite treats, but she just pushed them away. The only one to notice this besides Kenny was Stan, who also attempted to give her some food. Kyle leaned to Stan and whispered into his ear, but his reply was a simple shrug. Broflovski looked at Shay with a fretful shine in his emerald eyes and continued eating. Slowly the rest of the guys at the table began seeing Shay's awkward actions and began to get a bit unsettled themselves.

"Hey, wh-wh-what's wrong with Shh...Shh...Shay?" Jimmy looked at Kenny.

"I don't know." Kenny answered.

"Timmeh!" Timmy waved his arms madly into the air.

"M-maybe somethings wrong? Like Death rising from hell or something?" Tweek sipped his coffee and jumped, spilling some on the table as everyone looked at him weird. "Auugh! What? This is way to much pressure, man! Waay too much!"

"Maybe she has anorexia or something." Token suggested.

"I don't know, but this doesn't look good." Craig picked up his tray and left to dump it.

Clyde sniffed and broke into tears, stuffing his face into Butters's shirt. Shay was an empty shell. She didn't move, she didn't say anything, she didn't even look like she was breathing. She stayed that way even when Mr. Garrison called on her to answer a problem.

"Shay? Shay! Are you alive?" He waited.

"We're sorry, Mr. Garrison. She's been like this all day." Kyle said.

"What's wrong with her?"

"We don't know she won't tell us." Stan responded.

"I guess we'll have to send her home for right now until she gets a grip on reality."

"I'll take her home." Kenny volunteered.

"Very well, now Clyde, what's 4 times 8 minus 20?"

"12?" He sniffled.

"For once you're right." He wrote the answer on the board.

Kenny picked up Shay from her seat and carried her out the door when he heard footsteps running behind him. Stan and the others caught up to him and panted out of breath.

"We're coming with you, dude."

"Why?"

"We have to know what's wrong with her." Cartman said as he forced his legs to continue.

"She means a lot to you, but she is our friend too." Kyle agreed.

Kenny nodded and they walked out of the school and down the road. The feeling was stronger and stayed that way until they had to cross the street. The earth rumbled and mists of pitch black snuck from the shadows, bundling into one big shape. Death held his sythe in one hand and the boys froze as he pointed at Kenny and Shay.

"Well...what do you know...Tweek was right." Stan's voice cracked.

They ran the other way only to meet up with Death that way too. He floated forward and chased them as they continued running away from him. Death cornered Kenny and was about to touch his face, inching closer and closer. Kenny held on tight to Shay and gave the specter a roundhouse kick, knocking him back in time to get away. He searched for his friends, but they were no where to be found.

"Stan! Kyle! Cartman! Where are you?" he shouted.

In the real world, Kyle turned around to the sound of Kenny's voice, but couldn't find him.

"Kenny? I'm right here dude!"

"Do you hear him too?" Cartman growled.

"Yeah, Stan?"

"I do too, but if we can hear him where is he?"

"_Guys, where are you? I can hear you, but I can't see you_!" Kenny's voice rang out from oblivion.

"Don't worry Kinny! We'll find you if it's the last thing I do!" Cartman yelled.

"_Please hurry, I don't know how much longer we'll be able to survive here. Oh God...oh shit he's here!_"

Kenny ran in the obscurity with Shay still in his arms from Death. He couldn't believe it. He was _running_ from _Death_. Never was he so eager to get as far away from Death as possible. Never did he want to actually live when he had the choice to die. It was for the sake of his soul, for Shay. They had a special connection that held them together, without the sound the bell cannot sing. But why? Why was he so afraid of losing her? He had many relationships in the past, most ending along with his unexpected (or expected if you will) demise, but he didn't feel this sense of fear until now. There was something special about her, about himself, that made this hidden sensation become known, that made it come from the shadows at this time of his life. He couldn't explain it, but he didn't want to give Death the time to catch up to them. It wasn't going to get them.

The darkness envoloped them as he ran farther and farther away from Death until he was deep within the night. Where he was he didn't know, but he didn't stop running. In reality the boys continued to search for Kenny and Shay not giving up even when it seemed that they could never find him.

"Kenny? If you can hear us follow our voices!" They shouted out.

Kenny did as they said and tried to use them to guide him, but it was as if he were in a box. The voices echoed around him, confusing and strangling him. They twisted in a way that mocked him. _You're never going to leave. You're not immortal, you just a weak little boy. You have nothing in common with the great phoenix. You are nothing._ _Nothing_. Still, he eliminated their insults and found the light in his friend's words. They called out to him and formed a light at the end of the tunnel, the same one he saw when he was about to really die. He sprinted to it and jumped through the white rays, landing back in the real world in front of his friends. They happily hugged him and were glad that he was back, but they didn't know that they allowed a doorway for Death to come through as well.

"Kenny! Watch out!" Kyle swirved him behind the three of them.

"You want to get to him you have to go through us!" Stan challenged.

"That's right!" Cartman growled.

Death hit them away with the handle of his sythe and they bowled into each other, landing roughly on the gravel. He pointed directly at Kenny and he understood at the gesture. He softly put Shay on the ground before him and stepped away.

"Kenny what are you doing?" Kyle groaned.

"It isn't Shay it wants." Kenny objected as Death moved nearer. "It's me."

"Kinny! Stop being such a dumb ass, grab Shay, and get over here!" Cartman shouted, but he didn't move. "Kinny?! God damnit!"

"Kenny, are you sure this is what you want to do?" Stan picked himself up off the ground and helped the other.

"If it means keeping her safe I will." Kenny looked up at Death from underneath his blond bangs and gritted his teeth. "If it's me you want then here you go! Take me instead of her you big pussy! What are you waiting for come on!"

Death drifted over Shay and raised his sythe. Kenny closed his eyes and waited for the pain to slice into him when something happened. Cartman's voice was shrill as he shouted out a name.

"Shay! What the hell are you doing?!"

Shay jumped in between the blade and Kenny, but before he could get her out of the way Death swung and cut into her abdomen. She gagged and blood dripped down her mouth as she fell to her knees and onto her side. Without another word, Death disappeared and was gone back into oblivion. A crimson puddle formed around her body and Kenny sat beside her with her head in his lap. He put his hand on her stomach and didn't wipe the blood that seeped from her jacket off.

"What did you do that for?" He whispered.

"I...I saved you from Death, Kenny. I gave up my life for you so you can live. I promised I would keep you safe, and I'm determined to fulfill it. I'm sorry for keeping who I am hidden from you for so long, but you were right. Angels can watch over other angels. I just hope you'll understand why I did this for you, if you remember me.

The other three boys mourned for her and couldn't understand why she did it.

"You don't deserve to die so many times, but the phoenix cannot control what becomes of it. Only where it goes to become it."

"Will we ever see you again?" Kyle asked in a small voice.

"I hope so, one day." Her bright eyes faded as she looked off into the distance. Then she was gone.

Kenny was incredibly sad, but couldn't find the words or emotions to express it. He knew that crying would only maker her sad and so didn't shed a tear. Kyle felt this sorrow and also didn't know what to do, as did Cartman and Stan.

"I think the best thing to do is set up a funeral for her." Kyle helped Kenny up as he had Shay in his arms. "In honor of her bravery and grace she shined upon us."

That night the McCormicks, Cartmans, Marshes, and Broflovskis along with the school all met at the cemetary to witness Shay's corpse be put under ground. The preist read the words off of a paper that Kenny and his friends composed before the funeral.

"Though she was a mystery to us all, Shay Frost was everything anyone could ask for. She was a loving friend, a brave fighter, a smart cookie, and an angelic maiden that will always be in our memories. May she fly up in heaven where she truly belongs."

Cartman took the stand and cleared out his throat. Everyone was on the edge of their seats, eager to hear what he had to say about this situtation.

"Now, I know what you're all thinking and I'm doing this for everyone I've hurt during the days she was alive, including her herself. I've taken her kindness for granted, but in a way we all did. Stan, Kyle, Kenny and I, we may have only known her for a short time, but during that time it felt like we've known each other for years." He sniffered and held back the tears that were welling up in his eyes. "I'm sorry I don't mean to get so emotional. I know that Kenny, bless his poor heart, is having the hardest time seeing that he was closest to Shay. He did what none of us would do for her. He gave her a chance to know what it's like to be loved and cared for. Angels are something that we never lose, though. Angels are a thing that bring light and comfort to our lives. Kenny McCormick and Shay Frost are the very definitions of what the word "angel" means. They never die, they're never forgotten, and they never forget. They're always safe deep in the nooks of our minds. Shay was Kenny's guardian angel. The only difference was that Kenny didn't even have enough money to take her on a more fitting date. Thank you." He joined his friends for the one of the most heartbreaking moments of their lives.

Slowly they lowered Shay's casket into the earth and began to cover it up with dirt. Karen led the line of people with Kenny as they walked forward to put a couple pure white roses on her grave. Soon the lump was decorated in lovely red and white flowers as they mourned in silence. Kyle put Kenny's music box in his hand and smiled to him.

"It was Stan's idea to get them and bring them to her grave." He described.

"It's like they were sent by her to us for a reason. This is that reason." Stan got out the pictures of his friends. "She wanted us to remember how much we were throwing away if we didn't set ourselves straight."

"Each of the items signify something valuable to us and then a few words of meaning that brings us together." Cartman had Clyde Frog in his hand and read the paper on his stomach. "**_Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured._**"

Kyle stood beside Eric and took out the birthday card, reading what it said inside.

"**_The person who only accepts friends without faults will never have any real friends_**_." That's why we're so happy that we got to know you and that we're friends with you. I love you, dude. From: Stan Marsh, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormick._"

Stan flipped the pictures over and read both of the quotes.

""**_Difference of opinion was never, with me, a motive of separation from a friend_**." and "**_One friend in a lifetime is much; two are many; three are hardly possible_**.""

Kenny had a hard time taking out the shurikin, but eventually held it in his shaking hand.

""**_Death was afraid of him because he had the heart of a lion._**" and "**_God's angels often protect his servants from potential enemies._**""

Together in unison they spoke the closing of their prayer.

"Amen."

The wind suddenly blew up and slowly the dark clouds parted revealing the beautiful luminosity of the white moon. They put their items back into the boxes and sat them down on Shay's grave, opening them at the same time and listening to the song the four music boxes played. Snowflakes danced in the gusts and once the song was over it softly closed the lids. The four boys walked home together with heavy hearts when they all whipped their heads up at the sound of tires screeching on the asphalt.

"Hey, watch out!"

A large semi sped out of control and right into the boys' path. Kenny pushed Cartman out of the way and took the blow for him.

"Oh my God! They killed Kenny!" Stan shouted.

"You bastards!" Kyle shook his fists at the person who tried to warn them.

Kenny felt his body floating and saw a bright blue light above him. Shay appeared in front of him in a long, pale blue and white dress with large, snow white angelic wings. For the first time he had ever seen, Shay had bubbles running down her face. They reached out for each other and kissed once before the darkness pulled Kenny away from her grasp. The light grew dimmer and dimmer as he awoke back in his bed as the only one who remembers Shay Frost, the fallen angel who saved another.

_**Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! I would like to hear some reviews from some viewers telling me what they liked and didn't like while they were reading. If you liked the story great! If not I would like to know why. If you liked my OC Shay Frost super! If not then, again, why. Stuff like that! I hope I don't get any responds from you that tell me that Shay is just a Mary Sue for Kenny, because I really don't intend her to be that way. However, I cannot stop people from what they think, this is just my wish that none will think this in the first place. Once more, thank you for reading! I'm maybe thinking of doing a sequel to this story if enough people give good reviews on it! Arigatou and sayonara! :D** _


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